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BEV. WILLIAM S. WHITErD. D. 



And His Times, 



[1800—1873.] 



2kn ^utohtosrapItB- 



EDITED BY HIS SON, 

Key. H. M. WHITE, D. D., 

PASTOB OF THE XiOTJDOTTN-StkEET PkESBYTEEIAN CHUBCH, WlNCHESTEB, VIRGINIA, 




RICHMOND, YA.: 

tteeian Committee of Pubucation. 
189 1. 







COPYRIGHT, 1891, 
BY 

JAMES K. HAZEN, Secretary of Publication. 



- t+ b ol 3 1- 



Printed ey 

Whittet & Shepperscn, 

richmond 3 ya, 



Electrotypes by 

L. Lewis, 

Richmond, Va. 



PKEFACE. 



OUR father wrote a memoir of his son Hugh, who 
fell in battle, August 30, 1862 ; and we undertake 
to prepare one of him. These are two proverbially 
difficult tasks. The one is liable to error through ex- 
cessive complacency, and the other through excessive 
reverence. 

His was the more difficult task, because of the time 
and circumstances. His eyes were yet wet with tears ; 
the grass had not grown on his son's grave ; the war, 
in which his young life had been quenched, was still 
raging. Yet he succeeded. The love of the father 
does not color the thoughts of the biographer. There- 
fore we are encouraged to undertake our task, yet not 
without misgiving. 

We do it from a sense of duty. During his last 
days, after he had been laid aside from regular work, 
he wrote out some "Notes" on his life. His reason 
for so doing is thus given by his own hands : "It oc- 
curs to me that a portion of the leisure I now enjoy 
may be wisely spent in recording, for the good of my 
children, and especially for my sons who are ministers 
of the gospel, a few of the incidents of my earlier min- 
isterial life. It may throw some little light upon their 
paths, and, if not their's, upon those of my grand- 

3 



4 Preface. 

sons, many of whom, I trust, are to be heralds of the 
cross." 

The fruit of such a labor of love cannot be allowed 
to moulder in the grave. Our hearts would never 
bear it. 

Moreover, we believe our father did a great work for 
God ; that he was a man for his time, and therefore a 
man for all times ; and that the study of the life of such 
a man will do good, not only to his children, but to all 
others. 

His personal acquaintance with many of the most 
distinguished men of his time, both in church and state ; 
his active participation in some of the most stirring 
events of the church; and his peculiarly close rela- 
tions to the most prominent institutions of learning, 
secular and religious, in our commonwealth, give to 
his memoir a historical significance of singular interest 
and importance. 

He was partly induced to write by the urgent en- 
treaty of one of his sons, whose chief object was to get 
his mind employed upon daily work, and thus retard 
that decay of mental faculties which comes on so rap- 
idly when an energetic life is suddenly exchanged for 
one of inactivity. The work grew on his hands until it 
became a book, which filial honesty must put in print. 

These "Notes," together with other papers, were 
placed in the hands of a friend and ministerial brother, 
who had known him long and intimately, and who ex- 
pressed a warm desire to write his memoir; but this 
friend was prevented by insuperable difficulties from 
executing his cherished purpose. After twelve years 
the papers have been returned to our hands, and at 



Preface. 5 

this late day we undertake the work, under many dis- 
advantages. 

In a little volume, entitled The Old Bachelor, by Mr. 
William "Wirt, a picture is strikingly described. Writ- 
ing of the influence mothers may exert over their chil- 
dren he says : " I cannot better explain myself than by 
describing a picture which I saw some years ago, in the 
parlor of a gentleman with whom I was invited to dine. 
It was a plate — a colored engraving, executed in the 
highest style of that art — which represents a mother as 
reciting to her son the martial exploits of his ancestors. 
The mother herself had not lost the beauty of youth, 
and was an elegant and noble figure. She was sitting 
in a large arm-chair, her face and her arm extended 
aloft, and her countenance exalted and impassioned 
with her subject. Her little boy, a fine-looking fellow, 
apparently about fourteen years of age, was kneeling 
before her, his hands clasped in her lap, and stooping 
towards her. His bright eyes were fixed upon her, 
and swimming with tears of admiration and rapture. 
Such, said I to myself, is the impulse which a mother 
can give to the opening character of her child; and 
such is the way in which a hero may be formed." 1 

If we can set before the descendants of our honored 
father a delineation of his character and life true to 
nature, though without any of "the finish" of this 
prize picture of Alfred the Great, it will be such as we 
desire and all that we can attain unto. 

Believing as we do, that when the materials at hand 
are sufficient, every biography should be an autobio- 

1 This picture now hangs in the parlor of a Virginia gentleman — 
Frederick Johnston, Esq. , of Boanoke County. 



6 Peeface. 

graphy, our part in this work has been mainly to re- 
produce his own work in such an order as will give to 
it unity. A man's writings delineate himself more ac- 
curately than he can be delineated by another. This 
self -revelation, unconsciously made in correspondence, 
diaries, anecdotes and narrations, is the true, the ex- 
press and only reliable portrayal of personal mind and 
soul that can be made. Through it we can see the 
heart beating, the blood flowing, and the wonder- 
working mind performing its subtlest and most vital 
functions. 

No likeness was ever taken of our father that caught 
the true expression of his countenance. "When at rest, 
a look of sternness always settled upon it, that melted 
away as soon as he began to speak in public or con- 
verse in private, or even when reading. Then his 
large brown eyes would glow with a strong light, and 
his warm feelings spread themselves in a smile of ani- 
mated joy over his large and strongly marked face. 
This drew to him strangers wherever he went, and 
made him friends as long as he lived. The likeness 
prefixed to this Memoir, with this exception, is very 
good. 



CONTENTS. 



Page, 
CHAPTER I. 

1800. 
Place of Birth and Ancestry. 
Hanover County, Famous in the Annals of Church and State. — 
Patrick Henry. — Henry Clay. — Samuel Davies. — First Formal 
Movement for Religious Liberty. — Drs. B. M. Smith, Theo- 
dorick Pry or, and W. S. Plumer, on Dr. "White's Life and 
Work. — The Residence of the White Family. — His Ancestry, 13 

CHAPTER II. 

1800-1822. 
Paternal Grandmother. — Learning the Alphabet. — Washington- 
Henry Academy. — "Parson Hughs." — A Leader among Boys. 
— His* Father. — His Mother. — ■ Various Schoolmasters. — First 
Attempt at Teaching. — Enters Hampden-Sidney College. — 
Boom-mates. — How Awakened. — Wrestling in Prayer in the 
Woods. — (Rev.) Daniel A. Penick. — Students' Prayer Meet- 
ing. — Received into the College Church 22 

CHAPTER III. 

1820-1824. 
Teaching in his Father's Family. — A Profitable Prayer Meeting. — 
Gilbert Tennent Snowden. — Death of his Father. — Seeing his 
Way into the Ministry. — Dr. John H. Rice. — Mrs. John H. 
Rice. — Their Home. — Anecdotes about Dr. Rice. — Dr. Rice's 
Death. —Re-enters College. — How he Gets through College __ 32 

CHAPTER IY. 

1822-1827. 
Graduates. — Teaches School in Farmville. — Taken under Care of 
Presbytery. — Opening of Union Theological Seminary. — Stud- 
7 



8 Contents. 

ies there while Teaching in Farmville. — Anecdote of Dr. B. H. 
Bice. — Licensed, April 30, 1827. — Anecdote of Dr. Bice; or, 
How to Treat Other Denominations. — Goes as Home Mission- 
ary to Nottoway. — Letter of Encouragement from Dr. B. H. 
Bice. — Sketches and Anecdotes of the Two Bices, and of Dr. 
William S. Beid 43 

CHAPTER V. 

1827-1832. 
Shiloh ^Church Built. — Fruits of Five Years' "Work in Nottoway, 
Lunenburg, Amelia and Dinwiddie. — Jeter's Bace-track. — Dr. 
Bice's Wise Counsel to him in Despondency. — Baptists and 
Methodists. — Marriage. — Generosity of Dr. James Jones. — 
Uncle Jack, "The African Preacher." — Anecdotes of him. — 
The Dying Infidel. — Encomium by Dr. Pry or 54 

CHAPTER VI. 

Pastoral Sketches. 
Infidelity in Prospect of Death. — • ' Caught with Guile. " — Interested 
Hearers. — Anti-Presbyterianism Cured. — "The Devil Threw 
him Down and Tore him. " — Early Conversion : E. F. P. ; 
E. W. W. ; A. B. ; A. H. ; E. S. ; A. A. B 69 

CHAPTER VII. 

1832-1836. 
Leaves Nottoway for Scottsville, Va. — Mr. (afterwards Bev. Dr. ) 
Peyton Harrison Builds a Parsonage for him at his own 
Charges. — Bevival. — Bev. Daniel Baker. — Accepts Agency for 
American Tract Society. — Observations on his Agency and 
Similar Enterprises Auxiliary to the Church 90 

CHAPTER VIII. 

1836-1838. 
His Field in and about Charlottesville. — Abandons South Plains 
and Bethel. — Bev. Joseph F. Baxter Called to them. — Con- 
fines his Work to Charlottesville. — Opens a School for Young 
Ladies. — The School a Nursery to the Church. — Declines En- 
tertaining a Call to a Valley Church „ 97 



Contents. 9 

CHAPTEK IX. 

1836-1848. 
University of Virginia. — Mr. Jefferson Sees his Mistake. — Popular 
Demand for Religious Instruction. — Denominational Rotation 
in the Chaplaincy. — Himself Chaplain in 1840. — Health Breaks 
down. — Professor Davis Shot by a Student. — His Death. — 
Funeral. — Note on the Sermon, by Eev. Dr. Dabney! — New 
Era in the Religious History of the University. — Anecdote 
about Dr. Speece. — Chaplain a Second Time (1844). — Rev. 
D. B. Ewing Secured as Assistant. — Health Fails again. — The 
" Aliquis Controversy. " — List of his Publications. — Gov. T. "W. 
Gilmer. — His Tragical Death. — Funeral. — Illustrative Inci- 
dent. — A Cause of the Prevailing Deism in Virginia. — Prof. 
W. H. McGuffey. — Opposition to him because a Minister of 
the Gospel. —Anecdote. — Review of Dr. Cooper's "Life of 
Priestley," by Dr. John H. Rice. — Dr. White's Impress on 
Charlottesville and Albemarle County, by a Member of the 
Methodist Church. __ 105 

CHAPTEK X. 

1848-1861. 
Accepts a Call to Lexington, Va. — "The Skinner War. " — Dr. Skin- 
ner Suspended from the Ministry by the Presbytery. — Restored 
by the General Assembly. — The Pastoral Relation: his State 
of Mind in Dissolving and in Forming it. — The Lexington Con- 
gregation — Major (afterwards the renowned General) T. J. 
Jackson. — John B. Lyle. — Anecdote about him. — Method of 
Collections for the Church. — Anecdote about General T. J. 
Jackson. — A Model Deacon 128 

CHAPTER XL 

1848-1861. 
Pentecostal Seasons. — Special Prayer for the Approaching Meet- 
ing of Synod. — Its Fervor an Indication of Approaching Re- 
vival, which Occurred in his Absence. — Effects of the Revival 
on the Church. — Another Revival, extending from November, 
1853, to February, 1854.— Full Account of another in 1856.— 
Proposition in 1857 to Colonize. — The Church Building En- 
larged. — Efforts for the Colored People. — Sabbath-school 
Founded by Gen. T. J. Jackson for their Benefit. — Work in 



10 Contents. 

behalf of Temperance. — Anecdote about bis Preacbing against 
a Military Ball. — Home Missionary Work. — Stems a Torrent 
of Indignant Opposition to a Public Lecturer. — Rev. W. J. 
Baird, D. D.— His Pulpit Power ._ 144 

CHAPTEE XII. 

1861-1865. 
A ' ' Union Man" at the Secession of Soutb Carolina. — What Changed 
his Mind and that of his State. — Abolitionism and Secession- 
ism. — List of those in his Church and Congregation who Per- 
ished or were Disabled for Life in the War. —Depreciated Cur- 
rency. — Peace in the Midst of War. — Extract from a Letter 
of his Son who Fell in Battle. — False Philanthropy of Aboli- 
tionists. — Their Agency in bringing on the War. — The Nat. 
Turner Insurrection. — John Brown's Diabolical Scheme. — 
The Southern People on the Defensive for Thirty Years prior 
to the War. — Gen. Hunter's Ruffianism in Lexington. — Shells, 
Burns and Sacks the Town. — Gen. Averill's Raid : a Thorough 
Gentleman. — Chaplains in the Northern Army.— The Gaiety 
among the People. — Sir Walter Scott's Review of the French 
Revolution. — "The Lost Cause." — Grace Triumphs 167 

CHAPTER XIII. 

1861-1865. 
The Strife before the War __ 200 

CHAPTER XIV. 

1866-1871. 
Health Fails. — Offers his Resignation to the Session; Declined, 
and an Offer of Support for an Assistant Made, provided his 
Health not Restored by Rest. — Corresponds for Assistant. — 
Health not being Restored, Insists on Resigning. — Action of 
the Congregation. — Becomes Principal of the Ann Smith Acad- 
emy. — Letter to Rev. John S. Watt. — A Touching Sight. — The 
School Succeeds. — Resigns. — Letter of the Trustees Accepting, 208 

CHAPTER XV. 

1871-1873. 
Retreats to the Home of his Daughter, Mrs. Harriet McCrum. — 
Serene and Cheerful Old Age. — How he Appeared to his Breth- 



Contents. 11 

ren ; e. g. , Rev. G. W. Leyburn and Rev. Dr. ¥m. S. Plumer. 
His Chief Desire in Prospect of Death. — Leads his Physician 
to Christ. — Impressive Interview with Judge J. W. Brocken- 
rough. — Anecdote of his Patriotism 220 

CHAPTEE XYI. 

Memorial Notices of Dr. and Mrs. "White. 
By the Session of the Church. — Lines by Mrs. M. J. Preston. — By 
the Synod of Virginia. — The Faculty of Washington and Lee 
University. — The Central Presbyterian. — Rev. John S. Grasty, 
D. D.— Rev. Dr. Balch.— Lines by Rev. Dr. J. A. Waddell.— 
Memorials of Mrs. "White. — By the Session of the Church and 
Mrs. Preston _ 235 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Letters of Condolence. 
From Rev. Dr. Wm. Brown; Rev. Dr. Wm. S. Plumer; Rev. Dr. 
B. M. Smith; Rev. Dr. R. L. Dabney; Mrs. Margaret J. 
Preston ____ 268 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Estimates of his Character by Life-long Friends : Dr. R. L. Dabney; 

Dr. T. W. Sydnor; Dr. Theodorick Pryor .__ 275 



Rev. William S. White, d. d., 

AND HIS TIMES. 



CHAPTEE I. 

Place of Birth and Ancestry. 

1800. 

Hanover Coonty, Famous in the Annals op Chttech and State. — 
Patrick Henry. — Henry Clay. — Samuel Davies. — First Formal 
Movement for "Religious Liberty. — Drs. B. M. Smith, Theo- 
dorick Pryor, and W. S. Plumer on Dr. "White's Life and 
Work. — The Residence of the White Family. — His Ancestry. 

" I am a part of all that I have met." 

HANOVER COUNTY is famous in the annals of Virginia 
for her contribution both to the State and the Church. 
Patrick Henry, whose eloquence helped to inflame the popu- 
lar heart with patriotic indignation against the tyranny of 
Great Britain and bring on the Revolution of 1776, was born 
and brought up on her soil. The old brick court-house, 
built A. D. 1735, in which his voice thundered in peals that 
reverberated through the land, is still used for the adminis- 
tration of justice. 

In " the slashes of Hanover " Henry Clay was born, a fact 
which (he was wont to say humorously) all but himself were 
ashamed to confess. In the country home of Mr. J. G. Tins- 
ley the parlor-corner is still pointed out in which the great 
statesman made his first appearance, when a blushing youth, 
shrinking out of sight, at a social party. He was then em- 
ployed in the clerk's office in Richmond, and the party was 
in the home of the clerk. From this county he emigrated 

13 



14 Eauly Presbyterianism. 

to Kentucky early in life, accompanied by an uncle of the 
subject of this memoir. 

Among the distinguished and useful men in the Presby- 
terian Church of Virginia, and indeed of the United States, 
perhaps none will be remembered longer than the eloquent, 
laborious and devoted Samuel Davies. Patrick Henry said 
of him that " he was the greatest orator he had ever heard." 1 
His influence in procuring religious toleration in Virginia 
was unsurpassed. He met and nearly overthrew Attorney- 
General Randolph in a great discussion of the construction 
of the Act of Toleration, 2 and " succeeded in procuring from 
the attorney-general in England a decision that the Act of 
Toleration was the law of Virginia, and the consequent licens- 
ing of the dissenting churches." 3 "If Francis Makemie 
was the first licensed minister of the Presbyterian faith 
(1699), Samuel Davies was the founder of the church in Vir- 
ginia." 4 For when Mr. Davies arrived in Virginia (1748) 
there was not a single organized Presbyterian church any- 
where to be found in the old, settled parts of the State." 5 
There had been " a small Presbyterian congregation on the 
Elizabeth river, near where Norfolk now stands, over which 
the Rev. Mr. Mackey, from Ireland, presided as their minis- 
ter. But soon after Makemie's death he was forced to fly 
from intolerant persecution, and we hear no more of him or 
his congregation afterwards." 6 

It was some years after the death of Makemie before a 
Presbyterian church was organized in the Old Dominion. 7 
The two congregations in Accomack county, gathered by 
Makemie, were extinguished after his death by persecution 
at the hands of the establishment. He had been called the 
" Father of Hanover Presbytery," and Hanover Presbytery 
is the mother of Presbyteries in the South and "West of the 

1 Cooke's Virginia, 1883, p. 338. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 
5 Davies' Sermons, Vol. I., Robert Carter & Bros., 1857, p. xviii. 
* Ibid., p. xviii. ; Foote's Sketches of Virginia, Vol. I., p. 98. 



Hanover Presbytery. 15 

United States. Samuel Davies was the head and front of dis- 
sent in Virginia, for, as he declared, there were not, when he 
first came, " ten avowed dissenters within one hundred miles 
of him." 1 The combination of Quakers, Baptists and Presby- 
terians to procure religious toleration in Virginia was initiated 
in Hanover county by the Presbyterians. 2 The first protest 
of evangelical Christianity against formalism, in the shape 
of a public document, was made by the Presbyterians of 
Hanover. "The noble memorial from the Presbytery of 
Hanover, which may yet be seen on the yellow old sheet in 
the Virginia archives, sums up the whole case with admir- 
able eloquence and force. It is trenchant and severe, but 
that was natural. It is the great protest of dissent in all 
the years." 3 

This venerable document, although written November 11, 
1774, and forwarded at that time by the Presbytery of 
Hanover to the Virginia House of Burgesses, lay concealed 
in the archives of the State until May 7, 1888, when, for the 
first time it seems, it was put into print by Mr. ¥m. Wirt 
Henry, in the columns of the Central Presbyterian, in Rich- 
mond, Va. 

From this document it appears that the first formal move- 
ment for religious liberty in these United States, which is 
now the glory of our land, was made by the members of the 
Presbytery of Hanover. It is also evident that Mr. Jeffer- 
son derived his ideas on this subject, as Mr. Henry remarks, 
from this and similar documents from the same body, writ- 
ten in 1776 and 1777, which he incorporated in the Bill of 
Bights of Virginia, by which, in 1799, the separation between 
church and state for the first time was effected. And so it 
is proved that from the bosom of old Hanover Presbytery 
flashed the vis vivida by which the established church was 
overthrown and a way opened for religious liberty. 



1 Cooke's Virginia, 1883, p. 338. * Ibid. , p. 339. 3 Ibid. , p. 392, 



16 Estimate of Dr. White's Lite. 

Two large Presbyteries in the Synod of Virginia now bear 
the name of Hanover. The first Presbyterian church in 
Tidewater was organized in a private house in this county — 
that of John Morris. ' The historical significance of the es- 
tablishment of religious liberty in Virginia, as estimated by 
Mr. Jefferson, may be inferred from the fact that he had his 
authorship of the bill, by which it was granted, inscribed 
upon his tombstone, along with his authorship of the Decla- 
ration of Independence and his founding the University of 
Virginia. These he evidently considered the broad and 
lasting foundations of his fame. While his credit for this 
immortal document is not to be abated in the least, yet it is 
not extravagant to say that Mr. Davies exerted a more pow- 
erful influence than Mr. Jefferson in preparing the popular 
mind for its enactment as law. 

These facts render old Hanover county the classic ground 
of Virginia Presbyterianism, and, may we not add, of Ameri- 
can Presbyterianism ? 

We propose to write of another, who was born and reared 
to manhood on the soil of Hanover, one for whom we claim 
no such distinction for oratory or statesmanship as that of 
those just mentioned, yet one whose life, as a minister of the 
gospel, was fruitful of noble results, and who, by the con- 
centration of all his powers upon a full and determined pur- 
pose to do what he could for his race, achieved great success, 
and made his life instructive to all who would do likewise. 
It is the opinion of some who knew his life thoroughly that, 
in his toay, he did a work not unworthy of comparison with 
that of any of them. 

The Rev. Dr. B. M. Smith, in a letter giving his estimate 
of the life-work of Dr. White, written for publication, says : 
"Your father certainly did most wonder/idly popularize 
Presbyterianism. Dr. John H. Eice did more, in a different 

1 Cooke's Virginia, 1883, p. 336, 



The Vikginians. 17 

manner, to build up our church, but your father's personal 
ministry exceeded in success, of the kind indicated, that of 
any man I knew." 

The Rev. Dr. Theodorick Pryor, whose acquaintance with 
him began in 1823, when they were both students at Hamp- 
den-Sidney College, who succeeded him in the Nottoway 
Church, and who knew him intimately from that time until 
his death, writes : "I cannot conceive of a man better quali- 
fied to do good. Wherever he lived and labored, his work 
testified to his worth. ... I heartily wish the church were 
now blessed with a thousand William S. Whites." 

The Rev. Dr. Wm. S. Plumer, who, as he says, "was 
much with him for forty-five years, and saw him variously 
and sorely tried," writes for publication, viz. : " Such a man 
was of course useful. He was useful in the pulpit, in the 
church courts, in the parlor, in the sick chamber, at the mar- 
riage, in the house of mourning, by example, by precept, by 
doctrine, by his pen, especially in his excellent letters, and 
almost in every way." 

Hanover county, and those adjacent to it, were settled by 
an intelligent population of English descent, who maintained 
the manners and customs of the old country. High living 
and hospitality were universal. Well-bred gentlemen set 
the key-note of good manners ; horse-racing, fox-hunting, 
fish-fries, bird-suppers, and whist-parties brought the peo- 
ple together and promoted good fellowship. The old Vir- 
ginia gentleman was the beau ideal in the mind of every 
aspiring youth of that day. 

Not to be able to make one's self agreeable in company was 
an unpardonable defect in education. The young people 
were not set to work or drilled in business, but were taught 
to be agreeable at home and in company. The manual labor 
was performed by slaves, whose management was entrusted 
to an overseer. This led to much wasteful dissipation. 
Mr. WTiite's ancestry were English, and went to the extreme 
2 



18 His Ancestry. 

in pleasure seeking. His father, who owned Ellyson's Mill, 
about six miles east of Richmond, which gave the name to 
one of the great battles of "the war between the States," 
and who occupied the dwelling house that still stands on the 
hill above the mill, was devoted to company. "We have 
heard him say that, when the family were assembling for 
dinner, his father often sent him to the mill to bring up to 
dine with them any neighbor who might be there. In this 
way he was accustomed to company from childhood, and 
this, together with an inherited fondness for it, made him a 
welcome guest through life in houses where ministers of the 
gospel were looked upon with aversion. 

The life of every man, no less than that of every plant 
and animal, is the product of the combined influence of 
heredity and circumstances. Inherited tendencies, uncon- 
scious impressions from men and things, are so many 
tjitional influences, or "schools and schoolmasters," that 
determine infallibly and within the scope of divine sover- 
eignty the character and life of us all. The plastic mind of 
childhood, inconceivably more plastic than the body, can 
never throw off impressions then received. We may all say : 

"I am a part of all that I have met, " 

especially that I met in childhood. The history of no man's 
life can be written without relating the race from which he 
sprung, the place where he was reared, the institutions, the 
social customs and educational forces which moulded his 
character and thus singled him out from his species, indi- 
vidualizing him for all time. For this reason emphasis is 
laid upon the foregoing facts as the directing influences of 
Mr. White's life in his youth. We shall see, as we watch its 
unfoldings, how much he was indebted to them for what he 
came to be. 

On the Chickahominy river, east of Richmond, is a his- 
toric spot known as White Oak Swamp. Here, it is believed, 



Birthplace. 19 

Capt. John Smith was captured by the Indians. His canoe 
grounding in the shallows, he attempted to escape through 
the swamp. By a misstep he sank into the marsh, and so 
fell an easy prey into their hands. His rescue from a bloody 
death by Pocahontas followed. 1 

On this same river, about six miles east of Kichmond, is 
a mound of earth, unlike that of the swamp, and identical 
with the soil on the adjacent hills, called " Sugar Loaf Island," 
about an acre in size, which, in 1855, was covered with white- 
oak, beech and maple. This is the head of "canoe navigation" 
on the river, and, agreeably to tradition, was the spot where 
Capt. Smith left his canoe and fled on foot through the 
swamp. [Cooke locates the spot further east in the same 
swamp.] 

The residence of the White family for many generations, 
and the birth-place of W. S. White, was at Beaver Dam- 
an estate about a half of a mile from this point, and a quarter 
of a mile from Ellyson's Mill (then called Ellerson's Mill). 
This is the tract of land which, he says in his " Notes," is 
" still in possession of a branch of my family, and has be- 
longed to it ever since the year 1680, the same body of land 
belonging to the same family for one hundred and eighty- 
four years, and probably longer. It lies on the north bank 
of the Chickahominy river, about six miles from Richmond." 

Of his ancestry Mr. White writes as follows : " My father, 
William White, was married to Mildred Ellis in 1799. Both 
were of Hanover county, Va. Both were descendants of the 
earliest settlers of that county, and connected with the Pres- 
byterian congregation gathered there by Rev. Samuel Davies. 
I can trace my paternal ancestry back to the year 1680. . . . 
My own birth occurred July 30, 1800. I was the eldest of 
seven children, four sons and three daughters. Two of 
these children died in early infancy. The remaining five 

1 See Cooke's Virginia, p. 34. 



20 Family. 

attained to maturity, and all became consistent members of 
the church." 

It is to be regretted that he did not leave more informa- 
tion on this subject, for his aptness at tracing relationships 
was remarkable. From other sources, deemed entirely re- 
liable, we have gathered the following additional facts, which 
will be of interest to the family : 

[The grandfather of W. S. White was Barrett White. In 
a family Bible, now in our possession, out of which we have 
heard him say the Bev. Samuel Davies sometimes preached, 
is the following entry: "Barrett White departed this life 
February 18, 1782, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. His 
death was much lamented by his friends and neighbors, be- 
ing a good neighbor, a tender husband, a good father, and a 
kind master to his slaves." His wife was named Elizabeth. 
In the family Bible now owned by Kev. T. W. Sydnor, D.D., 
a first cousin of W. S. White, is this record: "Elizabeth 
White departed this life December 14, 1815, in the eighty- 
second year of her age." " She was, therefore," adds T. W. 
Sydnor, D. D., " at the time of the death of Barrett White 
forty-nine years old, and he fifty-five. 

" They left three sons, viz., Philip, who moved to Kentucky, 
and from whom were three sons, i. e., Jefferson, Joseph M., 
and Philip S., all men of note in their day. 

" Thomas, who lived in the upper end of Hanover county, 
Va., near what is now Ashland. He left five sons and four 
daughters, viz., Joseph, who moved to Kentucky; Clement; 
Larkin, who frequently represented his county in the Gen- 
eral Assembly of Virginia ; John Preston, Thomas Mercer, 
Mrs. Beasly, Mrs. Tinsley, Mrs Glaizebrook, and Mrs Kim- 
borough. 

" William White, who was the father of Wm. S. White, had 
four sons and three daughters, viz., Wm. S., Thomas J., 
Philip Barrett, Harriet E., who married James McLaurin, of 



Family. 21 

Powhatan county, Ya., and who died early; and Elizabeth, 
who never married. Two died in childhood. 

"Barrett White and Elizabeth also had three daughters, 
viz , Mrs. Penny, Mrs. Blackwell, and Mrs. Sydnor. Mrs. 
Penny and Mrs. Blackwell moved to Kentucky and left fam- 
ilies. • Mrs. Sydnor, mother of Rev. T. W. Sydnor, brought 
up a family in Hanover, Va." 

Two general characteristics of these different branches of 
the family are noted by Dr. Sydnor, i. e., "Fondness for 
talking and pride of ancestry." He also notes the following 
special characteristics, i. e., "Philip White's sons were very 
talented men, fond of politics and the highest social circles. 
Thomas White's sons were men of pleasure, fond of horse- 
racing and similar sports. Two of them, Larkin and Mercer, 
late in life became exemplary members of the church. Wil- 
liam White's sons and daughters all in early life became 
pious, and all their sons and daughters, as far as I know, 
are pious." 

It was Philip White, uncle of W. S. White, who moved to 
Kentucky, I think, with Henry Clay. Joseph White, who 
also moved to Kentucky, was first cousin of W. S. White, 
and the oldest son of Gen. Thomas White. Thomas White, 
who moved to Missouri, was brother of W\ S. White. Joseph 
M. White, son of Philip White, who went to Kentucky, 
represented Florida many years in Congress when Florida 
was a territory. Philip S. White, a famous temperance lec- 
turer, was his brother.] 



CHAPTER II. 

1800-1822. 

Paternal Grandmother. — Learning the Alphabet. — Washington- 
Henry Academy. — "Parson Hughs." — A Leader among Boys. — 
His Father. — His Mother — Various Schoolmasters. —First 
Attempt at Teaching. — Enters Hampden-Sidney College. — 

eoom-mates. how a wakened. — wrestling in prayer in the 

Woods. — (Eey.) Daniel A. Penick.— Students' Prayer Meet- 
ing. — Received into the College Church. 

" I will arise and go to my Father." 

IN the "Notes" referred to, Dr. White writes as follows: 
" I was carefully trained from an early age to read the 
word of God. This training I received chiefly from my pa- 
ternal grandmother, whose maiden name was Starke. She 
was a woman of vigorous intellect, and eminently pious. She 
died in great peace when I was in the sixteenth year of my 
age. 

"I have always believed that her bright example and 
faithful instructions did more to lay the foundation of my 
character and life than all other instrumentalities combined. 
She taught me to read, using a large family Bible, which I 
still own, for this purpose. Her plan was to turn the leaves 
of this Bible and teach me the large letters at the beginning 
of the chapters. Thus the Bible was my "first book," my 
only primer, spelling and reading book. From two to eight 
years of age I slept in her room. At a period further back 
than I can recollect she taught me a form of prayer, and so 
impressed my mind with the solemnity of the act that it 
abode with me to manhood. 

>c At nine years of age I was sent to "Washington-Henry 

22 



Washington-Henry Academy. 2a 

Academy, an institution established cotemporaneously with 
Pole Green Church, in Hanover, under the auspices of the 
Rev. Samuel Davies. This school had, at that time, been 
in operation half a century, and was still prosperous. The 
principal was the Rev. Mr. Hughs, and his assistant was 
Mr. Bowling Starke, first cousin to my father. Mr. Hughs 
was an Episcopal minister, rather of the colonial stamp, 
who dressed neatly and in the fashion of that day, wearing 
a coat with very broad skirts and enormous pockets, vest 
with flaps, small clothes, snow-white stockings, large knee 
and shoe buckles of pure silver, and a white flowing wig. 
Every day at noon the boys were assembled for prayers, 
when a portion of the Psalter and a prayer were read ; this, 
too, in an academy that had been planned, endowed and 
built by Presbyterians ! 

" At this time neither my father nor mother was a pro- 
fessor of religion. The former was emphatically a man of 
the world. Possessing at the time of his marriage a very 
ample patrimony with which to commence life, being emi- 
nently social in his tastes and habits, possessing a warm 
and generous heart, having around him several young friends 
like himself, newly married, but, unlike himself, possessed 
of large fortunes, he was easily drawn into a style of living 
to which his own inheritance was not adequate. "With these 
friends he took extensive journeys, to them he gave expen- 
sive dinners, adopting a style of life unfavorable both to his- 
spiritual and temporal interests. He died when forty-seven 
years old, leaving his five children about as much property 
as he had inherited from his father. Although he never 
made a profession of religion, we were not without hope in 
his death. 

" Shortly before his death my mother was received into 
the Presbyterian Church, and for about thirty years led the 
life of an exemplary Christian. She survived my father 
twenty-five years." 



24 Determination to Obtain an Education. 

The Rev. Dr. Sydnor, of Nottoway, Va., who knew Mrs. 
White well, says : " Her funeral sermon was preached by 
Dr. W. S. Plumer, in Richmond, Va., on the text, 'Well 
done, thou good and faithful servant ; thou hast been faith- 
ful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many 
things ; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.' Her character 
was beautifully portrayed, but by no means overdrawn. She 
was an eminently godly woman, uniformly cheerful, never 
very mach cast down, and of a remarkably affectionate 
spirit." 

Dr. Plumer writes as follows: "One of the most promi- 
nent features of Dr. White's character was strong common 
sense. He came by this lawfully. It was the prominent 
trait of his mother's mind, whom I knew very well. His 
good sense seemed never to fail him. It was as marked in 
his sermons as in his daily intercourse with men." 

When Dr. White was a mere boy, his first cousin, then a 
matured man — the Hon. Joseph M. White, member of Con- 
gress from Florida — visited Beaver Dam, the home of Wm. 
White, and, being impressed with the boy's mind and man- 
ners, said to him : " Don't vegetate here on the Chicka- 
hominy. Resolve to be something " This remark, enforced 
by the brilliant career of his cousin, proved to be a nail 
fastened in a sure place. From that hour his purpose was 
formed to obtain an education. 

His father was the more ready to help him because of a 
lameness in one limb which could never be removed, because 
of which he always introduced him to visiting friends as his 
"unfortunate child." Notwithstanding this physical defect, 
such was the energy of his spirit that he was very fond of 
field sports of all kinds, and, "to the surprise of everybody, 
could outswim, outride, and outclimb any boy in the neighbor- 
hood." 

About this time, as we have seen, when in his ninth year, 
he was sent off to school. But difficulties of one sort and 



College Days. 25 

another rendered his efforts almost abortive. He was sent 
to three different schools, viz., "Washington and Henry, one 
in the slashes of Hanover, near the birth-place of Henry 
Clay, and the third in Manchester, Va., taught by the Rev. 
John Kirkpatrick. 

At eighteen years of age, being without money, he deter- 
mined to teach school and earn it. "Accordingly," he writes, 
" a log building was erected, with an earthen floor, in a dense 
grove, near the road leading from Richmond to Hanover 
court-house, about eight miles from the former place. Here 
I made my first effort as a teacher of youth. I was liberally 
patronized, did my best, and made money enough in one 
year to defray my expenses at college a year-and a-half. 

"In January, 1819, in my nineteenth year, I went to Hamp- 
den- Sidney College, introduced to Dr. Moses Hoge, then 
the president, by my very kind friend, the Rev. John Kirk- 
patrick. This letter drew their attention to me strongly, 
and enlisted them warmly in my favor. Indeed, he had 
written to them before I went that I had some good quali- 
ties; learned readily, but was not very studious; was ex- 
tremely social and much influenced by company. 

" He therefore begged that I might be placed, if possible, 
in a room with sedate and pious students. Ignorant of all 
this, which I afterwards learned from Mrs. Hoge, I was 
much surprised to be told, almost as soon as I reached Dr. 
Hoge's parlor, that my room, furniture, and other things 
were all ready for me. 

"When I entered the room and saw that my room-mates 
were two of the plainest looking men, each nearly thirty 
years old, grave-looking, coarsely dressed, and that the fur- 
niture was rude and scant, my heart sank in me like lead in 
the waters. ' This,' I said to myself, 'is too bad ; I can't en- 
dure it.' 

" They received me politely and kindly. But oh ! how dry, 
how dreadf ully dry ! The old building, too, was rickety and 



26 College Days. 

dismal. The walls of the room looked as if no lime had 
touched them for twenty years, and the floor as if it had 
never been scoured. 

" But in all this the hand of God soon became distinctly 
visible. These room-mates, who, to a thoughtless youth 
like me, seemed so uncongenial at first, soon won my confi- 
dence and love. One of them died, I think, without being- 
licensed to preach ; the other lived out his three-score years 
and ten, and was very successful as a herald of the cross. I 
cherish, with the tenderest affection, the memory of Hugh 
Caldwell and Wm. Hammersley (although more than forty- 
five years have passed), and that of Mr, Kirkpatrick and Dr. 
Hoge fur having put me at that critical age under their in- 
fluence. 

" Rev. Dr. Moses Hoge was the president of the College, 
professor of theology, and pastor of the church, and filled 
each chair with ability. He took his turn in conducting 
the morning and afternoon worship in the College chapel, 
preached every Sabbath morning, and lectured every Sab- 
bath night in his OAvn parlor. The laws of the College re- 
quired me to attend chapel service, and, from a sense of 
duty rather than inclination, I attended regularly. I also 
went regularly on Sabbath morning, but night meetings 
were new to me, and, as we were free to go or stay away, I 
did not attend. Dr. Hoge's sermons were rich in matter, 
but his maimer was by no means attractive. To me it was 
rather repulsive, and decidedly awkward. But, in spite of 
my own vitiated taste and dense ignorance, I was obliged to 
hear enough to be convinced of his warm heart and brilliant 
intellect, and learned to listen with lively interest. Al- 
though my heart was sometimes moved, my conscience 
slept. 

" One Sabbath night, so thoughtless was I and ignorant, I 
took up my text-book to prepare my lesson for Monday. 
Good Mr. Hammersley was surprised and mortified at this;. 



Conversion. 27 

spoke in plain but kind terms of its wickedness, and ended 
by begging me to go with him to the meeting in Dr. Hoge's 
parlor. My conscience smote me. Memory recalled my 
loved and faithful grandmother, now in heaven, and I went. 
Dr. Hoge lectured on Eelshazzar's feast, and dwelt particu- 
larly on the nrysterious handwriting on the wall: 'Thou 
art weighed in the balances and found wanting.' I was in- 
terested, convinced, and deeply affected. I strove hard to 
conceal my feelings. 

"When the services ended I hastened from the parlor, 
spoke to nobody, but did not return to my room. I was 
afraid to see my room-mates, thinking that the sight of 
them, even if they should not speak to me, would increase 
my distress. I hastened to the' forest, several hundred yards 
beyond the College, and there, in the night and dark and 
silent woods, I had the first clear conception of the difference 
between saying prayers and praying. The first I was famil- 
iarized to in childhood, the latter I had never attempted 
nor understood. Nor did I understand it then. I knelt at 
the root of a tree, both hands resting against the trunk. I 
could not pray. I knew not how. I was deeply sensible 
that, if weighed in the balances of God's law and justice, I 
must perish. I clearly saw that a large measure of my 
guilt consisted not only in my not praying, but in my in- 
ability to pray. 

"I returned to my room far more wretched than I was when 
I left Dr. Hoge's parlor. It may seem strange, but it is 
nevertheless true, that I was rather gratified than otherwise, 
on reaching my room, to find both my room-mates abed and 
asleep. I felt a strong repugnance to speaking to any one 
or having any one to speak to me. I slept but little. 

"At a very early hour the next morning I hastened to the 
woods again. As I slowly descended into a densely wooded 
ravine, my attention was attracted by the sound of a human 
voice, as of one in distress. I paused a moment, then slowly 



28 Conversion. 

arid cautiously advanced in the direction of the sound. I 
soon discovered its source. I saw the body of a man kneel- 
ing, with his hands resting on a rude seat built against the 
trunk of a tree. I soon recognized the person as that of my 
excellent friend, now the Rev. Daniel A. Penick, pastor of 
Rocky River Church, North Carolina. I caught some of his 
words, and even a sentence or two. I wept because I could 
not pray as he could. I desired greatly to speak to him and 
have him tell me how to pray. But I saw the impropriety 
of disturbing him then, passed on as quietly as possible to 
another part of the forest, and renewed my effort to pray. I 
recalled the parable of the prodigal son, in which I had been 
much interested in early childhood, without comprehending 
its spiritual import, and made the confession and the prayer 
of the prodigal to his father mine : ' Father, I have sinned 
against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to 
be called thy son ; make me as one of thy hired servants.' 
These words abode with me. They dwelt in my mind and 
on my heart. What I had seen and heard in the morning 
inclined me strongly to make my condition known to Mr. 
Penick. This I did during the day, but I well remember 
that my embarrassment was such that I could say but little 
to him. What I said, however, was quite enough to open 
the way for him, and he spoke in a way greatly to instruct 
and comfort me. My state of mind was soon known through 
the College, and others kindly sought to give me all the help 
in their power. 

" The pious students held a prayer meeting every Friday 
night in one of the rooms of the College. To gratify my 
friend Hammersley, I had, previous to this time, attended 
this meeting two or three times ; but a wicked student, who 
had unfortunately acquired some influence over me, had ral- 
lied me for going, and said nobody but 'the divines' went 
to that meeting, and they only went to learn to pray when 
they became preachers. But when Friday night of this 



Conversion. 29 

week came I went to tha^ meeting gladly. And greatly was 
my soul refreshed. The Scriptures read and the hymns 
sung, though somewhat familiar to me in their letter, now 
seemed new. Indeed, it seemed as if I had never seen or 
heard them before. 

"In the course of a week or two I sought an interview with 
Dr. Hoge. I was amazed and deeply affected to find one of 
his age and distinction so approachable, so condescending, 
and so kind. He followed me to his front door, took my 
hand in his, and said: 'I think you may safely apply for 
admission to the next communion, and feel a comfortable 
persuasion that this will not be with you as the morning 
cloud and early dew.' I did apply at the next communion, 
and was received into the College Church at Hampden-Sid' 
ney, where my membership has remained until this day, 
never having been dismissed to any other church. This oc- 
curred on the 19th of July, 1819." 

This account of his conversion, written by Dr. White in 
his old age, calmly reviewing his past life, in the full posses- 
sion of all his faculties, on the border of the world to come, 
and written for the instruction of his children, is certainly 
reliable testimony on a most important subject. This is a 
''religious experience," proved by a long and useful life, 
and, as far as such personal narratives can be relied on, very 
suggestive. Men of the world may say of it, as the great 
historian and essayist, Macaulay, once wrote, viz.: 

"From Augustine downward, people strongly under reli- 
gious impressions have written their confessions, or, in the 
cant phrase, their experiences; and very curious many of 
their narratives are. John Newton's, Bunyan's, Will Hunt- 
ington's, Cowper's, Wesley's, Whitefield's, Scott's — there is 
no end of them. When worldly men have imitated these 
narratives, it has almost always been in a satirical and hos- 
tile spirit. Goethe is the single instance of an unbeliever 
who has attempted to put himself into the person of one of 



30 Character in Youth. 

these pious autobiographers. He has tried to imitate them, 
just as he tried to imitate the Greek dramatists in his Iphi- 
genia, and the Roman poets in his elegies. A vulgar artist 
would have multiplied texts and savory phrases. He has 
done nothing of the kind, but has tried to exhibit the spirit 
of piety in the highest exaltation ; and a very singular per- 
formance he has produced." ■ 

This confession will be very curious also to thoughtful 
men, who have never been strongly moved by the word and 
Spirit of God ; but only to such. 

The Rev. Dr. T. W. Sydnor, of Blackstone, Va., has drawn 
the following pen and ink portrait of young White at this 
time of his life: 

"I know well the impression of him made early and in- 
delibly on my mind. It was this : He was a youth of hand- 
some features and pleasing manners, playful in his disposi- 
tion, full of fun and frolic, but never vicious. He was kind 
and generous in all his impulses, gentle towards the weak, 
pitiful towards the unfortunate, forgiving towards the inju- 
rious — only sometimes a little precipitate and indiscreet in 
resenting insults, or wrongs against other persons than him- 
self. True and steadfast to his friends, he would never, 
if he could prevent it by any means which seemed to him 
right and proper, allow them to be imposed upon. Far from 
being a bully, he was equally far from being a coward. His 
schoolmates and other associates regarded him as the very 
bravest of the brave. He was apt to learn, but not very 
studious. Still, being habitually respectful and dutiful to 
his teachers, he shared largely their confidence and affection. 
He was a great favorite with his fellow pupils, foremost in 
their schemes and sports — a leader among boys as he was 
afterwards a leader among men. 

1 Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay, Vol. II., p. 193. Leipsic. Lem- 
mermann & Co. 



Character in Youth. 31 

"Very early in life he was piously disposed — like Timothy, 
knowing the Scriptures from a child; like David, glad when 
it was said unto him, 'Let us go into the house of the Lord' ; 
like Samuel, attentive to the voice of God, and ready to min- 
ister in his service. My mother confidently predicted that 
he would become a preacher of the gospel." 

The following letter from the Rev. Dr. Theodorick Pryor 
sketches young "White at the same time of lif e : 

"Nottoway C. H., Va., May 11, 1886. 
"Rev. and Dear Brother: My acquaintance with your 
father, the late William S. White, D. D., began in June, 
1823, when I entered Hampden-Sidney College. He was 
then a member of the Junior class. I occupied a room im- 
mediately above his, and was thus thrown into frequent and 
familiar intercourse with him. We belonged to the same 
debating society. I knew him well. My impression, is that 
he was the most popular man in College, universally loved 
and esteemed. He was among the best debaters in his so- 
ciety. Whilst he was not honored with a distinguished ora- 
tion at graduation, my impression is that he alioays stood 
well in his class. Because of his genial disposition and his 
delight in familiar conversation, he probably lost some time 
which would better have been employed in study. His col- 
lege life was without a blemish or censure, and he carried, 
when he entered the Theological Seminary, a character of 
eminent piety. My opinion is, that he studied better in the 
Seminary than in College." 



CHAPTEK III. 

1820-1824. 

Teaching in his Father's Family. — A Profitable Prater Meet- 
ing. — Gilbert Tennent Snowden. — Death or hi3 Father. — 
Seeing his Way into the Ministry. — Dr. John H. Kice. — Mrs, 
John H. Rice. — Their Home. — Anecdotes about Dr. Eice. — ■ 
Dr. Eice's Death. — Ee-enters College. — How he Gets through 
College. 

" Thou hast marked the slow rise of the tree, — how its stem trembled first 
Till it passed the kid's lips, the stag's antler — then safely outburst 
The fan branches all round.'' 

WHEN Mr. White had completed six months of his Fresh- 
man year, he was compelled, by want of funds, to sus- 
pend his studies for a year. So he opened a school in his 
father's family, in Richmond, where they had moved a short 
time before. Here he made the acquaintance of a Mr. Gil- 
bert Tennent Snowden, a native of New Jersey and lineal 
descendant of the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, of Log College. 
He was an intelligent and very earnest Christian, and took 
Mr. White to the "Young Men's Prayer Meeting," and 
showed an interest in him otherwise. 

"On one occasion," Dr. White writes, "having sold me a 
small package of goods, as he handed it to me over the 
counter, he asked, in a low tone of voice: 'Do you think you 
have religion enough ? 

"Somewhat startled, I replied promptly, 'By no means; 
indeed, I often doubt whether I have any.' 

"'Well,' he said, 'suppose you and I meet at your school- 
room to-night, and spend an hour in reading the word of God, 
and prayer ? We will have a prayer meeting all to ourselves/ 

32 



Dr. John H. Rice. 33 

"I readily consented, and for several months we thus met 
three nights in each week, and I have ever believed that 
that was the most profitable prayer meeting I ever attended. 
There, for the first time, I prayed in the hearing of another, 
and there the question first rose in my mind as to preaching 
the gospel. 

"I spent one year in Richmond, and then returned to 
college. Snowden left about the same time for Columbia, 
South Carolina, where he became a wise, active and gener- 
ous ruling elder, and one of the most trusted and useful 
directors of the Theological Seminary at Columbia, and often 
represented his Presbytery in the General Assembly. 

"When my Sophomore year in college ended, Snowden 
urged me to come to Columbia and make his house my home, 
offering me abundant pecuniary help. I was always strongly 
averse to leaving my native State, and to accepting gratuity 
in prosecuting my studies. But when every effort to raise 
money on my prospective inheritance failed, I agreed to go 
to Columbia and teach school, if a good situation could be 
gotten, as a last resort. Divine providence ordered other- 
wise, and so my life has been spent in Virginia instead of 
South Carolina. 

"In September, 1820, my father died, and my mother re- 
turned to her farm in Hanover. Having to look for a home, 
my thoughts turned to the Rev. Dr. John H. Rice, then 
pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Richmond. To 
my great joy, he consented to board me, aud thus an ac- 
quaintance began, the benefits of which to myself can never 
be estimated. I was thus introduced into one of the best- 
modelled Christian families, and into the best society which 
the city or country afforded. 

"I had not yet determined on a profession. Indeed, my 
mind was so engrossed with the purpose to get a good edu- 
cation, with little prospect of doing so, that my thoughts had- 
never extended beyond it. Soon after I became a member 
3 



34 Dk. John H. Kice. 

of Dr. Rice's family, he placed in my hands the "Life of Cor- 
nelius Winter," by the Rev. William Jay. When I had read 
it, the Doctor asked me if that book had not awakened a 
desire in me to preach the gospel. I expressed a lively in- 
terest in the life and character of Mr. Winter, and a strong 
desire to become as good and useful a man, and added, 'But, 
Doctor Rice, I can't see my way into the ministry.' 

" 'How far can you see?' he asked. 

" ' With what I hope to make by my school this session, I 
can see one year ahead.' 

"I have never forgotten his reply. It was in these words: 

"'Very few persons can see a whole year before them at 
one time. Surely Moses could not when he stood with the 
Red Sea before him, the mountains on his right and left, 
and the Egyptians in his rear.' 

"Thus ended this interview, but the impression it made 
has never been effaced. 

" Soon after this, on entering the Doctor's study, I found 
him reading a new book. He raised his eyes and said, 
' Here is one of the best books of the kind I have ever read. 
It is just from the press. One may profitably read it through 
every year of his hfe. I wish you to read it with prayer, 
saying, as you read, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? " 3 
It was the "Life of Henry Martyn." I had no sooner finished 
it than my purpose was formed. The language now both of 
my tongue and heart was, 'Woe is me if I preach not the 
gospel.' 

"Dr. Rice, even at this early period, had risen to great 
distinction. He had commenced the ministry an humble j 
missionary to the negroes in Charlotte county, Virginia. J 
Now he was the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in 
Richmond, and editor of the Southern Literary and Evan- 
gelical Magazine, a monthly, conducted with great ability. 
Rev. Drs. Moses Hoge, Conrad Speece and John Matthews 
were his chief helpers among the ministry, while the Hon. 



Dr. John H. Eice. 35 

"Wm. "Wirt and ¥m. Maxwell, Esq., were his chief helpers 
among the laity. The variety of matter, as well as the prac- 
tical wisdom displayed in the conduct of this magazine, give 
it a value that will make it attractive and useful to the end 
of time. The twelve volumes, of which it consists, constitute 
one of the best portions of my library. 

"To strangers, and especially to young men who did not 
know him, Dr. Eice seemed austere. His tall, majestic form, 
and thoughtful, solemn countenance, as he was seen on the 
street or in the pulpit, repelled rather than attracted persons 
of this description. It was so in a sad degree in my own 
case, until I met him in the social circle, and especially in 
his own delightful parlor. Here all austerity and stern- 
ness vanished, and a more approachable, more genial, more 
delightf ul companion could nowhere be found. Young men 
of good character, brought thus in contact with him, became 
passionately fond of him. During his pastorate at Eich- 
mond there was a large number of such who were familiarly 
designated as 'Dr. Eice's young men.' I had the good 
fortune to be of that number. 

"The Doctor seemed to be aware of the difficulty of ap- 
proaching strange young men directly, and hence his method 
was to do it indirectly. The following little incident will 
illustrate my meaning. On coming home from a visit of 
business to several stores, he said to me, 'I saw a young 
man just now in the store of Cotton & Clark, whose appear- 
ance impressed me very favorably, and I would be glad to 
make his acquaintance.' On his describing the personal 
appearance of the young man, I said to him, 'Doctor, I 
know him, but you would hardly like him, for he is a Socin- 
ian, from Boston.' He promptly replied, 'That only makes 
me the more anxious to know him. I wish you would bring 
him up to tea with you.' Soon after I told the young man 
that Dr. Eice had been so much pleased with his attention 
to customers that he desired me to bring- him to his house 



36 Mrs. John H. Eice. 

to tea. The young man seemed surprised, but evidently 
gratified. He declined, however, at that time, but on further 
thought he determined to accept the Doctor's invitation, 
went with me to tea, was delighted with his visit, soon at- 
tended 'The Young Men's Prayer Meeting' — a meeting 
composed almost exclusively of 'Dr. Pace's young men' — 
and in a few months became a member of the Doctor's 
church, and a great favorite in his family. 

"I must not fail to say that he was not the only attraction 
found in his parlor. He had no children, but he had a wife 
and a niece — an adopted daughter — who had no superiors 
in the art of polite entertainment. The Doctor did the solid 
and they the beautiful, so that both instruction and amuse- 
ment could always be found in that parlor. Mrs. Eice pos- 
sessed a very happy talent for dispelling from the minds of 
her visitors the thought that they were strangers. She did 
this by treating them very much as they were treated at 
their respective homes. Visitors were not invited to this 
hospitable house to eat and drink, but if eating and drink- 
ing came on during the visit, they partook of just what was 
on hand. Even if the tea ran short, as I have sometimes 
known it to do in consequence of an unusual number drop- 
ping in just at tea-time, no sad looks, no dolorous apologies 
caused embarrassment. The company were supposed to 
have good sense enough fully to account for the failure. 

"By the way, I have often been frightened away from the 
house* of 'the best people' about meal time by knowing into 
what an agony of distress I should throw the lady of . the 
house by catching her with a wash-day dinner, or a milk and 
bread supper. No visitor could ever distress the Doctor, 
nor even his kind, hospitable wife, in that way. It may be 
that this distinguished couple had, somehow, come to think 
that to people of taste and sense other sources of delightful 
entertainment might be expected in their house, even better 
than roast beef and plum pudding. They thought it quite 



Dr. John H. Rice. 37 

as reputable and as useful to feed the rnind and heart as to 
pamper the perishable body. 

"But let none suppose that there was any lack of all that 
was necessary and agreeable on that hospitable board. But 
' eat to live and not live to eat ' was the sound and Chris- 
tian-like maxim 'that ruled in that house, and, as a conse- 
quence of this, among higher influences, I am free to de- 
clare that in all my life I have never known so large an 
amount of good done to the soul through the proper culture 
of the social affections. 

"Dr. Bice was too good, too strong, too faithful a man ever 
to have it said of him, as it is often foolishly said of the de- 
ceased minister of the gospel, 'he had not an enemy on 
earth.' I always regarded this as a virtual attempt to ele- 
vate the man above his Saviour. ' Woe be unto you when 
all men shall speak well of you.' And with equal truth may 
it be said, Woe be to him whose life is such as to provoke no 
ill-will, even from the devil or any of his emissaries. It may 
be said in truth, that the intelligent, the wise and the good 
only needed to know Dr. Eice in order to respect, admire 
and love him. 

'• On entering his study one morning he handed me a letter 
filled with vulgar abuse of him, and written by a bookseller of 
Eichmond of no small pretensions. The reading of it filled 
me with indignation. I wondered how he could endure it, 
or what he would say in reply. But when I returned to 
him the letter, he handed me the reply already written, smil- 
ing good naturedly as he did so. It was couched in the 
well-known stanza of Wm. Cowper, with only the prefix 
'sir'— 

' "A pious, learned, or well-bred man 
"Will not insidt me, and no other can. ' 

This, with his signature, abruptly appended, was the whole 
reply. There the matter ended. 



38 Dr. John H. Kice. 

"My brief residence in the family of Dr. Rice at Rich- 
mond brought me in contact with some of our most distin- 
guished, as well as with many of our most intelligent citi- 
zens. Among the former were Frank Gilmer, Esq., Judge 
A. P. Upshur, Gov. J. P. Preston, and Hon. Wm. Wirt ; 
among the latter were Morton Paine, Wm. Maxwell, Chas. 
Copland, Henry E. Watkins, Esqrs., and many others not 
now remembered. To be brought, from time to time into 
the society of such men was a rich privilege to a youth like 
me. I have a vivid recollection of the cultivated, social in- 
tercourse which such men delighted to hold. 

"At one time a youngster, with more impudence than 
brains, entered the Doctor's parlor when it was filled with 
the society of such as I have named. He had scarcely been 
seated when, with a very pompous manner and a voice loud 
enough to attract the attention of the whole room, he said : 
'Dr. Pice, I have just read Lord Byron's last, splendid 
poem, "Don Juan." I would like to know your opinion of 
it.' 

"The Doctor, with all the politeness of manner he could 
command, said : ' Well, sir, I do not know whether Satan 
can write poetry or not, but if he can, as far as the princi- 
ples and spirit of the poem are concerned, it is just such an 
one as he would write.' 

"With this 'Don Juan' was dismissed, and the preten- 
tious young man soon took his departure. 

"Dr! Rice had a favorite servant, named Charles, who had 
the confidence of his master to such an extent that he did 
all the marketing for the family, and transacted much other 
business. His sole charge in this way of work was to wait 
in the dining-room and attend to the visitors. On one oc- 
casion the family dined out. When they returned in the 
evening, Charles told his master that a gentleman had called 
that day to see him, but ' he neither left his name nor his 
card, sir, and I didn't like to be so impolite as to ask him/ 



Dr. John H. Eice. 39 

" ' You do not know, then,' said the Doctor, l who he was ? 
But, Charles, can't you guess who he was V 

" To this Charles replied : ' I doesn't know, sir, but I rather 
'spose he was a Yankee preacher.' 

" ' Why so, Charles V said his master. 

" c Well, sir,' said Charles, ' I has two reasons for 'sposin' 
he is a Yankee, and two for 'sposin' he is a preacher. I 
think, sir, he is a Yankee because so many of them comes 
here, and because he talks so percise ; and I 'spose he is a 
preacher because he was dressed in black and wears spec- 
tacles.' 

" Dr. Eice entertained a great deal of company, especially 
from the North. He had often travelled through that sec- 
tion of the country, and made many friends, and received 
liberal contributions there for the Seminary he had founded 
and for other objects. He was free from sectional pre- 
judices, and trusted and loved those whom he considered 
good men wherever he found them. The scarcity of preach- 
ers in Virginia, caused in part by the want of a theological 
seminary, led to the coming of many from the North, and 
they invariably came to him to find for them a field of labor. 
The consequence was that he often had two or three to- 
gether staying at his house for weeks at a time. Charles 
was right in supposing that the visitor spoken of above was 
a Yankee preacher. He reported himself as such the next 
morning, and he must have spent at least two months under 
Dr. Eice's roof. Indeed, it was very unusual to take a meal 
at his table without having one or more strangers present. 

" The last journey of the Doctor to the North was taken in 
the summer of 1831. He came home with the disease upon 
him of which he died in September following. Settled then 
in Nottoway county, and hearing of his sickness, I rode up 
to the Seminary to see him. On every former occasion he 
had returned from the North in cheerful spirits. But at 
this time' I was pained to find him much depressed. He 



40 Classmates at College. 

spoke gloomily of the spirit lie had discovered almost where- 
ever he went. I well remember his saying : ' There is a 
fierceness in the utterances, looks, and even in the tones of 
voice in which the people indulge. Large portions of the 
country seem to have been burned over by spurious revivals. 
I fear there is a terrible storm ahead.' He was the first 
man I remember to have heard use the word 'fanaticism' 
as characteristic of large numbers at the North, and even 
of some whom he had hitherto regarded as wise and good 
men. The storm he predicted has come, but he was not 
permitted to witness it. 

" My school in Kichmond ended, and I returned to college. 
I entered where I stopped, Freshman, half-advanced, having 
of course new class-mates. I wish my sons to remember, 
three of whom graduated before they were nineteen and 
one before he was eighteen, that their father was only half 
through Freshman in the twenty-second year of his age. 
(Perhaps it may be wiser to call the attention of my grand- 
sons to this.) I graduated on the 24th of September, 1824, 
when turned of twenty-four years of age, having as my 
classmates Dr. Peyton B. Berkley, Thomas T. Giles, John 
Clarke, Esq., Samuel V. Watkins, Esq., Hon. Wm. Ballard 
Preston. 

[Dr. Theodorick Pryor, who was a student at the same 
time, is our authority for saying that among his fellow-stu- 
dents were Hugh A. Garland, Virginia ; Alex. Bives, Vir- 
ginia: Beverly Crawford, Georgia; Bishop Atkinson, North 
Carolina ; Bobert Carter, Virginia ; Allen D. Metcalf, North 
Carolina; Dr. Jesse Armistead, Virginia; Bobert Burwell, 
North Carolina ; Bobert T. Turnbull, Virginia. There were 
at that time about one hundred and fifty students at Hamp- 

den-Sidney. Cushmg, an Episcopalian, was president. 

The University of Virginia, going into operation in 1825, 
•drew off their patronage ] 



Working his "Way. 41 

" For the encouragement of boys struggling for an educa- 
tion, I must state that, when my Sophomore year ended, the 
money I had made by teaching in Richmond was exhausted. 
I had an annual income, which, with close economy, would 
pay for my tuition and books, but not a penny had I with 
which to pay my board. I could have pressed for a division 
of the little estate which my father had left, but the admin- 
istrator urged that I should not do this, as the estate was 
in debt and all the other children were minors; that by 
keeping it together a few years he could pay the debts and 
thus render it much more valuable, especially to those still 
at school. I felt the force of this, and yielded. I then said 
to him : 'As you are a moneyed man, and have all of my 
property in your own hands, and as I am competent to exe- 
cute my bond, will you lend me inoney enough to pay my 
board at college for two years longer ? ' 

"He replied, 'You have been too long at college, and 
wasted too much money there already.' 

"Now, the old gentleman dealt a good deal in horses, and 
made much money thereby. Just at this time he had for 
sale a very handsome and highly-pampered, yet not very 
salable, horse, which he held at $200. He had yowed to 
take no less, and could not get it. As my vacation drew to 
a close, I began to feel a little desperate about the means of 
paying my board through my Junior and Senior years, so I 
went to the old gentleman and said: 'I have come down 
this morning to buy your fine dark roan horse. I will exe- 
cute my bond to you for the price you ask, and you may be 
as sure of the pay as my property in your hands can make 
you.' 

" ' What on earth do you want with such a horse? What 
wild scheme have you in your head now ? ' 

" 'Never mind,' I said'; 'will you accede to my proposal? ' 

" The bargain was soon closed, and I set out for college, 
hoping to 'ride through the course.' I was very indiffer- 



/ 

/ 



42 Working his Way. 

ently equipped as to saddle, bridle, saddle-bags, and ap- 
parel, and had no sooner entered upon the journey than 1 
commenced offering my fine roan for sale. Now, my anxiety 
to sell was so great and so obvious, my equipment so indif- 
ferent, and my horse so fine, that, although no one among 
the strangers whom I met ventured to hint such a thing, 
yet I was forced to believe that, in at least two or three in- 
stances, the suspicion was felt that I had stolen the horse- 
But sell him I could not, and I began to despair, when sud- 
denly I fell into the following soliloquy: ' The price of board is 
just $100 per annum; two hundred dollars, then — the price of 
the horse — will take me through. My excellent friend, Colo- 
nel Armistead Bur well, now the steward of the College, is a 
great admirer of fine horses, and, in his better days, owned 
many of them. I'll try him.' So I reined up the roan and 
rode up as magisterially as possible. Fortunately, the 
Colonel was standing at his yard gate, and, although he was 
one of the politest men, I was glad to see that his attention 
was soon diverted from me to my horse. Having scanned 
him closely, and with evident satisfaction, he asked, with 
marked emotion : 

"'Where did you get that fine horse, and what are you 
going to do with him 1 ' 

" The prompt reply was, f I got him in Hanover, and I have 
brought him for you.' 

"'I should be delighted to have him,' replied the Colonel, 
'but I have not the money now to buy such a horse as that/ 

"'Money!' I said. 'I don't want a cent of money for 
him. Just give me my board through my Junior and Senior 
years in college and you shall have him. This will be pay- 
ing you in advance.' 

" The bargain was closed before we entered the house, and 
I verily believe that it has been of no small service to my 
sons to know that their father got through college by eating 1 
up a horse/" 



CHAPTER IV. 

1S22-1827. 

Graduates. — Teachers' School in Farmvtlle. — Taken under Care 
or Presbytery. — Opening of Union Theological Seminary. — 
Studies there while Teaching in Farmvtlle. — Anecdote of 
Dr. B. H Rice. — Licensed April 30, 1827. — Anecdote of Dr. 
Rice, or How to Treat Other Denominations. — Goes as Home 
Missionary to Nottoway. — Letter of Encouragement from Dr. 
B. H. Rice. — Sketches and Anecdotes of the Two Rices and of 
Dr. William S. Reid. 

" It's wiser being good than bad: 
It's safer being meek than fierce; 
It's fitter being sane than mad." 

I HAD graduated, and, with a head very partially filled 
and a purse entirely empty, I engaged to teach a limited 
number of boys on a fixed salary in Farnrville, Va. As I 
had but eight boys, and nearly all of them classical scholars 
of the same grade of scholarship, I had leisure to commence 
my theological studies I accordingly placed myself under 
the care of Hanover Presbytery as a candidate for the min- 
istry of the gospel, and went once, and sometimes twice, a 
week to the Seminary for assistance in my studies. This 
school of the prophets was opened with three students just 
as I commenced my school at Farnrville. The whole labor 
devolved at first on Dr. Rice, and the course of instruction was 
not fully developed until the autumn of 1825. By this time 
Dr. Rice had an assistant ; eight or ten students were added 
to the original three, and at this time I entered systemati- 
cally upon my studies. Two full years at the Seminary, 
with what little I had done while teaching in Farmville, 
was all the preparation I made for the work of the ministry » 

43 



44 Licensed to Preach. 

On the 30th of April, 1827, I was licensed by Hanover 
Presbytery — not then divided into East and "West Hanover — 
as a probationer for the gospel ministry. My preparation 
was by no means complete, a fact that has embarrassed and 
perplexed me through life. My licensure took place in the 
Tabb-street Church, Petersburg, of which the Rev. Dr. 
Benj. H. Rice was then the minister. This excellent man 
now became as a father to me. During the meeting of the 
Presbytery at which I was licensed, considerable religious 
interest was awakened in Dr. Rice's church, and, as he was 
chosen to represent the Presbytery in the General Assembly 
of that year, he left me to do the best I could for a couple 
of weeks in supplying his pulpit. He had an excellent ses- 
sion, well fitted to lead in prayer-meetings, and even in re- 
vivals, so that I was rather a learner than a teacher. Hav- 
ing spent a week or two with my friends in Richmond and 
Hanover, upon the advice of Dr. B. H. Rice, and sustained 
by the Young Men's Domestic Missionary Society of Peters- 
burg, I went as a missionary to the county of Nottoway. I 
commenced my labors there early in June, 1827. All the 
Presbyterians that could be gathered in Nottoway and 
Amelia, with two or three in the upper part of Dinwid- 
die, and as many in the lower part of Lunenburg, consti- 
tuted what was called the Nottoway Presbyterian Church. 
They amounted in all to eighteen, and lived over a region 
of country thirty miles long by twenty-five wide. 

My indebtedness for much kindness to the Rev. Dr. Ben- 
jamin H. and his brother, the Rev. Dr. John H. Rice, ren- 
ders it meet that I should give my impressions of these two 
great and good men. Between these two brothers there 
were points of resemblance and of contrast. The former 
was the younger of the two. They both possessed large 
and well-proportioned bodies, large and liberal views, vigor- 
ous minds, and warm hearts. Both commenced their min- 
istry under many disadvantages, their earliest labors being 



Dks. John H. and Benjamin H. Rice. 45 

performed in small and obscure congregations. One organ- 
ized the first Presbyterian church ever existing in Rich- 
mond, commencing with only fourteen members, and wor- 
shipping, for the want of a house of worship, in the Mason's 
Hall ; the other organized the first Presbyterian church in Pe- 
tersburg, worshipping, for the same reason, in a tobacco ware- 
house, and commencing with only ten or twelve members. 
They settled in these important positions near the same 
time. There they grew, an;i the churches grew with them, 
until they became, for size and usefulness, the foremost 
churches of the State. Dr. J. H. Rice spent about twelve 
years in Richmond, and his brother about fifteen years in 
Petersburg. 

The former was the more studious and learned man of the 
two. The latter was the more popular preaoher. Dr. B. 
H. Rice made a more favorable impression on strangers at 
first sight. He was more fluent, both in the social circle 
and the pulpit. He formed his opinions quicker, and ex- 
pressed them with less hesitation. He had more wit and 
humor. A man so eminent and yet so approachable is very 
rarely met with. My acquaintance with him commenced 
thus: 

I had ridden fifty miles all alone to attend the Presby- 
tery, at which I was to present my first two "trial pieces." 
The meeting was held in a small country church. On the 
morning of the meeting, before the hour for worship had 
arrived, I was standing a hundred yards from the church, 
near the road which approached from the direction of 
Petersburg, while several ministers and elders were about 
the door, conversing freely; but with none did I feel suffi- 
ciently acquainted to approach them, nor did one of them ap- 
proach me. I felt lonely and low-spirited. My " trial pieces " 
were in my pocket, but I almost wished they were in the 
fire, for I felt heartily ashamed of them and quite sure they 
would not be approved. 



46 Dk. Benjamin H. Rice. 

"While indulging these gloomy thoughts, my attention was 
attracted by an old-fashioned sulky, in which sat a large, 
dignified-looking man, coming from the direction of Peters- 
burg. As he approached, he slackened his pace and said : 

"Isn't that White?" 

I replied very promptly, "Yes, sir." I knew who he was, 
for I had heard him preach several times. 

"Well," said he, "I know what you are here for. Just 
come and help me with this horse, and I will help you with 
your trial pieces through Presbytery." 

I went to his assistance with all promptitude, greatly 
cheered by his unostentatious and kind salutation. While 
we were taking the horse from the sulky and hitching him 
to the limb of a tree, he said : 

" I expect you feel badly. Have you brought your ' exe- 
gesis ' and ' critical exercises ' ? " 

I told him I had. 

"Well, now," he said, "don't be afraid of these preachers 
and elders; they don't know half as much as you think 
they do." 

By this time gloom was gone, and from that hour I re- 
spected, loved and honored him with my whole mind and 
heart. 

A year after this I was licensed to preach. The Pres- 
bytery that licensed me met in Dr. Bice's church, Peters- 
burg. There I preached my first sermon. When this sol- 
emn service was over, as I stood in front of the church, Dr. 
Bice came up to me and said: 

" Well, the Presbytery has opened your mouth, and now 
I'll tell you what to do. I am going to the General As- 
sembly, and, as I wish to stop at Princeton, I shall start 
next week. Go over to Bichmond, visit your friends, come 
back to this place, preach two or three Sabbaths to our 
people, get you a horse, and, when your time here expires, 
go to Dr. James Jones, of Nottoway. He will give you and 



De. Benjamin H. Rice. 47 

horse your board, and, with three other gentlemen assisting, 
will pay you $200 in money. Then go to work with all your 
might. You will find a good many Baptists, a great many 
Methodists, and very few Presbyterians in that count}'. To 
other denominations be kind, fraternal, and strive only to 
outpreach y outpray and outioork them." 

I promptly assented. The meeting of Presbytery at Pe- 
tersburg had been followed by a blessing. A pleasant work 
of grace was enjoyed. Thus my ministry was literally begun 
in a revival. It is worthy of record that four young ladies 
from Nottoway, attending a boarding-school in Petersburg, 
were subjects of this work, but did not join the church until 
they returned to their homes. These were almost the first 
persons I admitted to the church of which I was pastor. 
And lovely wives, mothers and church members they all made. 
One of them became the wife of my successor in the pastor- 
ate of Nottoway Church — Bev. Dr. Theodorick Pryor. 

As soon as Dr. Bice returned from the General Assembly 
he wrote me a long letter, replete with advice and encourage- 
ment. He charged me to attend to the poor. " Take care 
of Christ's poor," he said, "and he will take care of you. . . 
It is far better to suffer wrong than to do wrong. D< >n't 
complain. Don't talk of going away. You'll soon think 
that 3 T our preaching is like trying to batter down a stone- 
wall with a cork hammer. But never mind. The walls of 
Jericho were thrown down by ram's horns. You'll find a 
famous race track and jockey club in Nottoway. Don't 
abuse them. Indeed, never allude to them in any public ad- 
dress. But so preach and so pray, so unfold the doctrines 
and provisions of the gospel, and so illustrate and enforce 
these by your whole deportment, that the people may be 
gradually brought to see that 3 as a source of present happi- 
ness, the gospel is infinitely preferable to racing horses." 
This is but a brief and very imperfect sample of the wise 
counsel he gave me. 



48 Drs. John H. and Benjamin H. Rice. 

A Presbytery was soon held for my ordination and instal- 
lation. He and my venerated preceptor, Dr. J. H. Rice, 
both attended. It is not easy to express the gratification it 
gave me to have two such men to visit and cheer me at the 
commencement of my work. During my examination for 
ordination a little incident occurred, which illustrates in 
part the difference between these two distinguished broth- 
ers. Dr. John H. Rice was conducting the examination on 
church government. In the course of it, with that slow and 
solemn manner which was peculiar to him, he said : 

" Mr. "White, tell us, in the fewest words possible, what is 
the chief use of ruling elders in our church." 

The demand for the fewest possible words caused me to 
hesitate. Embarrassment began to rise, when suddenly his 
brother, who was reclining in a remote part of the house 
and seemingly asleep, arose and said, with great distinct- 
ness: 

" Tell him, to watch the preachers." 

This fully relieved my embarrassment, and raised a laugh 
all over the house. The examiner enjoyed the laugh quite 
as much as anybody else, and even apologized for framing 
the question as he did. 

Wingfield Academy, in Dinwiddie, was one of the many 
places at which I preached during the first year of my min- 
istry. The Fourth of July that year came on the Sabbath. 
My two excellent friends, Hatch and Atkinson, advised me 
to make a religious improvement of the day. I accordingly 
preached with that view. Some weeks afterwards, passing 
through Petersburg to Richmond, I called, as I always did 
in passing, on my valued friend, Dr. Rice. Soon after I 
entered his study he said : " I see from a Petersburg paper 
that you have been preaching a Fourth of July sermon. 
Knowing the ideas our writers for the newspapers generally 
hold of eloquence, I was somewhat grieved to find that they 
had spoken of your sermon as, in some parts, eloquent. But 



Dr. Benjamin H. Eice. 49 

■when I saw that they had not represented you as praying 
eloque7itly, I was better pleased. I hope I shall never hear 
of your praying- eloquently, whatever other bad things I may 
hear of you." 

I assured him that I knew nothing of any newspaper 
notice of my sermon, and that I had never supposed I should 
ever be accused of eloquence, in the popular sense of that 
term, either in my sermons or prayers. 

Dr. Benjamin Eice was more successful than his brother 
in producing an immediate impression on his hearers. 
Hence his preaching was more productive of revivals of re- 
ligion. It is hard, if not impossible, to discriminate in this 
matter. Larger accessions were made at a time to the Pe- 
tersburg than to the Eichmond church ; but in a period of 
twelve years they increased very much alike. Both churches 
were about the same size wherj the two brothers left them. 
The sermons of the elder brother operated more silently and 
slowly, but no less surely. The younger was eminently in- 
strumental in several extensive revivals, the fruits of which, 
after the lapse of many years, have proved that they were 
genuine works of the Holy Spirit. In 1822 he preached 
nine sermons in the Hampden-Sidney College Church con- 
secutively, but adopted no measures to ascertain to what ex- 
tent the word spoken had taken effect. After preaching the 
last sermon, he appointed a prayer-meeting to be held on 
the afternoon of the next day in the church, giving as area- 
son for appointing it in the church, and not at a private 
house or the College chapel, that no smaller building would 
hold the people who he thought would attend. To us who 
were familiar with the small assemblies that ordinarily met 
for prayer, this seeming prediction appeared surprising. 
He left early the following morning, and, at the hour ap- 
pointed for the prayer-meeting, I left my room in College to 
attend it, expecting to find but a dozen or two present. 
Judge of my surprise wdien, coming out from the College 
4 



50 Dr. Benjamin H. Bice. 

building, I saw a large number of carriages and other ve- 
hicles surrounding the church, and, on looking back to- 
wards the College, it appeared as if the entire body of stu- 
dents were coming. The church was filled to its utmost 
capacity. There was no preacher present, the church being 
without a pastor. The worship was conducted by a pious 
student. This work continued and deepened for several 
months, resulting in the addition of over sixty members to 
the church. 

Dr. Rice's views of the nature and best means of promot- 
ing revivals were eminently sound. He was accustomed to 
say that all feeling not produced by clear apprehensions of 
God's truth was more or less spurious, and that measures 
contrived to produce feeling were dangerous and hurtful. 
He was opposed to much singing in the presence of awak- 
ened sinners, maintaining that the state of mind of such 
was not suited to render praise to God. They must pray, 
repent, believe, and then they might sing. Nor did he 
favor very protracted meetings, especially in congregations 
blessed with preaching two or three times every week. He 
was urged to protract the meeting in Prince Edward, but 
he persistently refused, saying that, in the nine sermons he 
had preached, he had delivered his message, and had no- 
thing more to say to that people at that time. 

I shall go to my grave distinctly remembering and deeply 
feeling the impression of his wise counsels and invaluable 
life. May it please God, even at this late day, to give me 
more of his fidelity and success in Christ's cause. 

Dr. Rice, like his brother in Richmond, kept open house, 
especially for preachers, generously entertaining all who 
called. Like him, too, he was blessed with a wife whose 
admirable manners, genial spirit, good sense, and fluent 
tongue added immensely to the attractions of his house. 
But, unlike him, he had a lovely group of sons and daugh- 
ters. One of this group is now Rev. John H. Rice, D. D., 



Little Benjamin Eice. 51 

of Mobile, Ala. One of the daughters became the wife of 
Rev. Mr. Foreman, of Kentucky, and another is now the 
wife of Rev. Drury Lacy, D. D., of North Carolina. 

Of another of this group I must say a word. I refer to 
little Benjamin. He died at the early age of eight years. 
He was a child of rare endowments. From his third or 
fourth year he displayed a surprising aptitude to learn, and 
an uncommon taste and even reverence for the Bible. 

I have heard his mother say that she could control him 
at that early age far more effectually with the Bible than 
with the rod. Under the latter he was turbulent and re- 
bellious to the last. To the teachings of the former he 
bowed at once. She gave me an amusing illustration of 
this. On more than one occasion she had chastised him for 
striking his brother, but with no good effect. At length 
she resorted to the Bible. Turning to the sermon on the 
mount, and placing him on her knee, she said : 

" Now, Ben, I am going to prove to you out of the Bible 
that it is wrong for you to strike your brother, even if he 
does strike you first." 

She then read and explained to him these words : "Who- 
soever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the 
other also." 

Ben, then only six years old, listened with attention, and 
even solemnly. He was evidently much perplexed and ab- 
sorbed in thought. When his mother had indulged him in 
this for two or three minutes, he looked up into her face, 
with a countenance beaming with new thought, and said : 

"Well, mother, when I let Archie strike me on both 
cheeks, then I'll whip him." 

The mother was now as much perplexed as her little boy 
had been at the first reading of the passage. But this early 
reverence for the Bible displayed itself before and at the 
time of his early death in a way to assure his parents of his 
abundant fitness for heaven. 



52 Dr. William S. Reid. 

The Presbytery which licensed me was moderated' by the 
Rev. William S« Reid, D. D., of Lynchburg, Va. It has 
always given me pleasure to have his name appended to my 
license. Dr. Reid was a man of very prepossessing person, 
attractive manners, well cultivated mind, an amiable and 
devout heart. He spent a long and useful life in Lynch- 
burg, much of the time connecting a school for young ladies 
with the duties of pastor. This school had a wide reputa- 
tion, which was richly deserved. It was emphatically a 
Christian school. Pupils were sent to it from remote parts 
of the State, and many a germ of a Presbyterian church 
was planted by it. In the summer of 1835 I made a mis- 
sionary tour through the county of Southampton. On going 
"down to Jerusalem," the county seat, a village of several 
hundred inhabitants, but in which I learned there was not 
one Presbyterian and, I think, but one Methodist, I put up 
at the hotel and commenced preaching daily, morning and 
evening, in the court-house. On the second day of the meet- 
ing a gentleman called to see me, gave his name and said: 

" I reside one mile from the village, and have come in my 
carriage to take you out to my house. Neither my wife nor I 
make any pretensions to religion, but she has a great liking 
for your church, and says you must spend your time with us." 

I accompanied him, and soon found that his wife was a 
very sincere Christian and a very firm Presbyterian in her 
principles. After satisfying myself on these points, I asked 
how she had become so decided a Presbyterian in a oounty 
in which there was no church, nor preacher, nor even a mem- 
ber of that church. She said : 

"When I was a girl I went to school to Mr. Reid, of 
Lynchburg ; and, although he never made an effort to make 
me a Presbyterian, his instructions and his life combined 
led to my conversion and my choice of this church." 

A Presbyterian church was soon organized in that neigh- 
borhood, and this lady became one of its first and best mem- 



Dr. William S. Reid. 53 

bers. I have reason to know that this was one of many 
cases more or less alike. When Dr. Reid's great age and 
bodily infirmities incapacitated him for any longer dis- 
charging the duties of pastor, the church retained him in 
that capacity and called the Rev. C. R. Vaughan, then just 
licensed, to serve as collegiate pastor. This arrangement 
continued for several years — as long, indeed, as the old man 
lived. Mr. Vaughan was popular and useful. The extent 
to which Dr. Reid esteemed and treated his young associate 
as a son, and to which the colleague regarded and treated 
the doctor as a father, was so lovely, so Christian-like, as to 
make it worthy of record. As long as his strength permitted, 
be went regularly to church, always sitting* in the pew with 
his family, and listening to the sermons of his young brother, 
not only with the most fixed attention, but often with tears. 
He told me once that he loved Mr. Vaughan as he did his 
own sons, for, he added, "he has been to me all that a son 
could be to his father." 

Dr. Reid was one of the men who contributed so largely 
to give to the Presbyterian Church its distinctive type, 
which, I am thankful to believe, it retains to the present 
time. May the impress of those fathers ever abide ! 



CHAPTER V. 

1827-1832. 

Shxloh Chukch Built. - -Fruits of Five Years' Work in Nottoway, 
Lunenburg, Amelia and Dinwiddle. — Jeter's Race-track. — Dr. 
Eice's "Wise Counsel to him in Despondency. — Baptists and 
Methodists. — Marriage. — Generosity op Dr. James Jones. — 
Uncle Jack, "TnE African Preacher." — Anecdotes of him. — ■ 
The Dying Infidel. — Encomium by Dr. Pryor. 

" My own hope is, a sun will pierce 

The thickest cloud earth ever stretched ; 
That, after last, returns the first, 

Though a wide compass round be fetched ; 
That what began best, can't end worst, 
Nor what God blest once, prove accurst." 

IN Nottoway I preached on two Sabbaths of the month at 
a new church, commenced, but not completed, in the up- 
per part of the county — one Sabbath in Amelia, and one at 
"Wing-field Academy, in Dinwiddie. When a fifth Sabbath oc- 
curred, I spent it in Lunenburg or elsewhere, as best for 
the cause. This was my plan through the first year of my min- 
istry. At the close of that year, the Bev. John Barksdale, 
a man of great worth, one year behind me in the Seminary, 
took a commission to labor in Amelia. There were then 
only five or six Presbyterians in that county. These were 
organized into a church, very small to be sure, but, under 
Barksdale, it grew rapidly. 

I now confined myself to Nottoway. Shiloh Church was 
built, and I alternated between that in the lower and the 
Bepublican Church in the upper part of the county. [This 
church was built by the energy and influence of Mr. "White, 
and is still in constant use by the Bev. Dr. Pryor. It stands 

54 



Life in Nottoway. 55 

four miles east of Blackstone, on the Norfolk and Western 
railroad, ten miles east of the courthouse, and five miles 
from the Dinwiddie line.] During three-fourths of the year 
I preached on the afternoon of the day on which worship 
was held at "the Republican," at Little Creek, and in 
the afternoon of the day at Shiloh I preached at the "mouth 
of Cocke's lane." These places for afternoon worship were 
each eleven miles from the place of the morning service. 
"While this arrangement continued, I frequently took my 
dinner in my pocket, and ate it as I rode. The labor was 
severe, but healthful, and, I hope, useful. The church grew 
slowly, but surely. During the five years of my ministry in 
Nottoway that church increased to sixty members. A church 
had been organized in Lunenburg of twelve members, which 
had increased to forty or more; and the little church gath- 
ered in Amelia had increased to about the same number. 
In Dinwiddie nothing of consequence was done. 

My life in Nottow 7 ay may be characterized as one of inces- 
sant, but delightful, labor. That county had long been cel- 
ebrated for the politeness, refinement, and hospitality of its 
inhabitants. But they were deplorably irreligious. They 
had been afflicted with some of the worst specimens of the 
old English clergy — men who were leaders in fashionable 
dissipation. One had the misfortune to be visited by the 
wife he had left in England, after he had married in this 
country. The influence of such men on the cause of true 
religion, and even of sound morality, was bad. Card-playing, 
horse-racing and wine-drinking were almost universal among 
the higher classes. 

Within a few hundred yards of Shiloh Church, where 
Mr. White preached statedly, w r as Jeter's race-track. This 
famous institution was laid off about A. D. 1822. The 
wealth, style and beauty of old Virginia assembled here 
from time to time. All the distinguished racers in Virginia 
attended, coming from the Blue Ridge on the west to the 



56 Jeter's Race-track. 

Chesapeake Bay on the east, and North Carolina line on the 
south. Wm. R. Johnston, "king of the turf," often attended. 
Jimmie Junkin Harrison, from Brunswick county, used to 
bring a very fine stable of horses. All the surrounding coun- 
ties poured out their wit and beauty to the races. Many 
days were spent in the most exciting forms of fashionable 
dissipation, such as cards, wine, balls, and betting on the 
races. From 1822 to 1842 its influence was immense upon 
the morals of the land. It began to decline under the force 
of the truth preached by the ministers of the different 
churches "who wisely abstained from abusing it in public" 
Its owner, Mr. Richard Jones, was converted and received 
into the church by Mr. White. Three of the presidents of 
the jockey club were converted and joined the church. Major 
Hezekiah R. Anderson, one of them, was received into the 
Presbyterian Church by Rev. Dr. Pryor. In 1838 a revival 
of religion in the Methodist and Presbyterian churches gave 
it the death-blow. It survived about four years, when a fac- 
tum de ccelo destroyed the judges' stand. After this, it was 
reduced to cultivation, and became a thing of the past. 

For fifty years, ending with the year 1825, the Presbyte- 
rians almost wholly neglected the county. Except an occa- 
sional sermon by some such distinguished itinerant as Rev. 
Dr. Hill or Dr. Archibald Alexander, the gospel, as held by 
that church, was wholly unknown. The popular mind was 
filled with mistaken views and prejudices against this church. 
"When I began my ministry there, these met me at every 
turn, and for some months such was my want of success, 
and such the discouragement, I felt that, had it not been 
for the strong and salutary influence exerted over me by my 
excellent friend, Dr. B. H. Rice, I should have left the field 
in utter despondency before the first year had closed. But 
in his plain, blunt style he w r ould say to me : 

"Did the Presbytery license you that you might seek 
your ease and convenience, or that you might play the cow- 



Other Churches. 57 

ard when difficulties or dangers threatened you ? Abandon 
this field, and you will have to confess that you have failed 
to answer the expectations of friends and brethren. One 
failure always leads to another, and you will soon get the 
name of an unsuccessful man, and your life will end in fail- 
ure. Remember that the good farmer prefers any sort of a 
horse to one given to backing." 

Deeply impressed by these thoughts, I resolved, by the 
help of God, to succeed in my first charge or perish in the 
attempt. I carefully concealed from the people the discour- 
agement I felt, and never so much as hinted at a desire or 
purpose to go elsewhere. Even when on the point of going 
away, I conversed, preached and labored as if I expected to 
spend my whole life with them. 

The Baptists had gathered a church in that part of the 
county which borders on Prince Edward and Lunenburg; 
but through the centre and lower porti ms they had done 
nothing. The Episcopalians never made an effort. Old 
Parson Wilkinson, of matrimonial memory, had left behind 
him an odor so unsavory that, with the downfall of " Green's 
church," every vestige of that sect disappeared. I never 
met with man or woman in the entire county who even 
professed to belong to '"the church." The service was 
not so much as once read in public during my residence 
there. 

The Methodists were the efficient and successful pioneers 
in the work of planting the gospel. They had spread and 
were numerous over the entire county. There was not a 
neighborhood that had not its chapel and class-meeting. 
Many of the most wealthy and intelligent people of the county, 
whose early prepossessions would have inclined them to join 
some other church, had joined the Methodists. Among 
these I found some of my warmest personal friends. Al- 
though they made no change in their church relations, they 
became constant attendants on my ministry when our meet- 



58 The Nottoway Church. 

ings and theirs did not conflict, and extended to me and my 
family the most refined and generous hospitality. 

The sons and daughters of some of these good Methodists 
were among the earliest additions to my church. One of 
them became a valuable Presbyterian minister. To such an 
extent did this proceed that in a few years it became very 
common to find the old people of a family Methodists and 
their descendants Presbyterians. This commenced with 
four young ladies — daughters of the wealthiest and most 
intelligent Methodists of the country — who had been edu- 
cated at Petersburg, and received their bias to our church 
chiefly through their connection with some of Dr. B. H. 
Eice's church. But these things occasioned no ill-feeling. 
No proselyting was practiced on our part, and no offence 
taken on the other side, and hence all went peaceably on. 

In the beginning my congregations were very small, and, 
as some thought, very cold, while those of the Methodists 
were very large, and, as all thought, (for it was impossible to 
think otherwise) very warm. During the first }*ear my congre- 
gation, in the best weather, rarefy amounted to fifty ; w 7 hile 
their houses, close by me, were overflowing. I had an occa- 
sional addition of one or two, while they at the same time 
would receive from fifteen to twenty. They had periodical 
excitements of great violence, called revivals, which gathered 
many into the church, followed by a reaction which ordina- 
rily scattered as many from the church. They had neither 
Bible-classes nor Sunday-schools. At the outset we gath- 
ered one of the latter, numbering about twenty, and one of 
the former, numbering eight or ten scholars. In a few 
years the two churches became numerically equal, and ours in 
other respects greatly superior. In truth, considering the 
sparseness of the population, the Nottow-ay Church became 
one of the strongest and most generous churches in our en- 
tire connection in Eastern Virginia. 

Here we met with those best of friends, Dr. and Mrs. 



His Marriage. 59 

James Jones, "With them we lived at the time of the birth 
of our first child, named, at the special request of Mrs. 
Jones, after her husband. Language fails to express the 
debt of gratitude we owe to those generous and disinterested 
friends. Without any extravagance, I may say they were 
both father and mother to us. 

They were among the most highly-cultivated persons in 
this or any other country. Their beautiful home was liter- 
ally the abode of the most refined, intelligent piety, and the 
resort of many visitors likeminded with themselves. 

I failed to mention in the proper place the most auspi- 
cious event of my life, except my conversion to God and my 
consecration to the work of the ministry — viz., my marriage 
to Miss Jane Isabella, third daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George 
and Margaret Watt, of the city of Kichmond, Va. This 
event took place on the third of October, 1827, about four 
months after my labors commenced in Nottoway. The 
marriage ceremony was solemnized by Rev. Wm. J. Arm- 
strong, then pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of 
Richmond. Mr. and Mrs. Watt were among the first mem- 
bers enrolled by Dr. John H. Rice when he organized this 
church, and were always regarded by him with deep affec- 
tion. 

[Hugh Watt, father of George, died in Glenarm, Antrim 
county, in the North of Ireland, July 24, 1787. His daughter 
Elizabeth had sailed for Philadelphia, May 15, 1784. George 
Watt sailed for Richmond, July 14, 1790. Afterwards he 
returned and brought his mother and family. His betrothed, 
Margaret Dunn, came with the party. The Presbyterians 
in the North of Ireland were then suffering persecution from 
the English government. Mrs. White's grandmother was 
buried in the old church-yard of St. John's, on Church Hill. 
Her father and mother were also buried there.] 

When I returned to Mountain Hall, after my marriage, 
and presented my wife to Dr. and Mrs. Jones, a stranger 



60 Uncle Jack. 

might have supposed, from the reception given to her, that 
I was their own son bringing to his father's house a daughter- 
in-law. And as she was received so she was treated until 
these excellent friends ended their earthly pilgrimage. Dr. 
Jones died in the spring of 1848, and Mrs. Jones in the 
autumn of 1860. 

To mention but one of many instances of the generous 
kindness received from Dr. Jones, I will state that, soon after 
my removal from Nottoway, I received a letter from him 
containing these words : " The amount I contributed to 
your support during your residence with us was given for 
the sake of your ministrations in the gospel. I doubt not 
you are as actively employed in this work now as you were 
when here. I wish, therefore, to contribute to your support 
in your new field the amount I gave to you as our pastor. 
I have accordingly placed to your credit in the Farmer's 
Bank of Virginia, at Richmond, $1,000, the dividends on 
which will yield what I have been accustomed to pay you." 
Thus, to this day, is this faithful friend, though long since 
dead, generously contributing to my support. 

Here, too, I met with that remarkable man, familiarly 
called "Uncle Jack," the African preacher, a native of the 
benighted continent of Africa. In 1848 I published a bi- 
ography of this man, which was examined and endorsed by 
Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Jones, who had known him intimately for 
more than forty years. Having published already what I 
deemed it proper to say of him, I only add that, as I draw 
nearer to the end of my own earthly pilgrimage, I am ready 
to reaffirm all that I then said, and to express the firm and 
ever-strengthening conviction that he was, in many respects, 
the most remarkable man I ever knew. 

The Rev. Dr. Theodorick Pryor relates the two following 
anecdotes of this African preacher . 

"Talking with the Rev. John S. Watt on religious experi- 
ence, and lamenting the want of satisfactory evidence of his 



Uncle Jack. 61 

own conversion in a very melancholy vein, he said: 'How 
can I hope, when I see no fruit in myself V 

" Mr. Watt replied : ' That cherry tree has no fruit, not 
even leaf or flower, and yet we know it lives, for it has borne 
fruit.' 

'"Ah! yes,' responded the African preacher, 'but I know 
it has a live root ; if I could only know that of myself !' " 

Suffering foe Christ. 

"A band of 'lewd fellows of the baser sort' once arrested 
the African preacher to punish him by whipping for preach- 
ing the gospel. They charged him with many and various 
crimes, and asked what he had to say for himself, when he 
replied : 

"'The great Apostle to the Gentiles says, "Five times re- 
ceived I forty stripes save one." I have never had the honor 
of even one stripe for my Master. You can lay on when it 
pleases you.' 

" They were so impressed with his evident sincerity that 
they let him go." 

{Tlie African Preacher. This little book, a 16mo. of 139 
pages, is still for sale by the Presbyterian Board of Publi- 
cation, in Philadelphia, and being fresh, entertaining and 
wholesome, will be an addition to any Sunday-school library. 
Its wide diffusion among the freedmen of the South could 
not fail to produce the happiest results.] 

Incidents in the life of a minister, at first view apparently 
too insignificant for remembrance, in course of time are seen 
to have been connected with results of great importance. 
When my ministry commenced in Nottoway there was not 
a comfortable house of worship in the county. The few 
Presbyterians had commenced one in the northern part of 
the county, but for want of funds it had not been completed ; 
indeed, it was scarcely fitted for occupancy. In the south- 
western section there was a large old church edifice, built 



62 Old Green's Church. 

prior to the Revolution, for the use of the Established or 
Episcopal Church. It had been utterly abandoned for many 
years, and was almost in ruins. Still, it contained a large 
amount of valuable building material. By removing rubbish 
and trees, which had grown up so as to obstruct entrance 
through the doors, we made it practicable to begin stated 
worship there in June, 1827. The pews were of various 
shapes, but all of immense depth, rising above the heads of 
ail whose stature did not reach six feet. The ten command- 
ments and the Apostles' Creed, in yellow letters, on boards 
painted black, still hung on one end of the old edifice. The 
pulpit stood in one side, octagonal in form, so small that 
only two gentlemen could occupy it, and that with difficulty, 
and so high that the preacher saw only the tops of the heads 
of those whose pews were nearest to it. ' There was a pro- 
jection over the head of the preacher, commonly called " a 
sounding board." This approached so near to the head of 
the preacher that the sensation produced some vv hat resem- 
bled the feelings of one who, enclosed in a hogshead, was 
attempting to preach through the bung. 

The question was soon started, " Shall we repair old 
Green's Church, or move some four miles lower down and 
build a new house ?" The descendants of the old revolu- 
tionary people strongly contended for repairing. They were 
the aristocracy of the region. They held much the larger 
portion of the money. "Their fathers and grandfathers 
had worshipped in old Green's Church." For this reason 
they would not consent to abandon it. Many of the plainer 
and poorer people lived below, and were for building anew. 
They plead that around them there was a dense population 
who had no means of riding, and for this reason could not 
attend the old church. Besides, it would cost more money 
to repair the old than to build a new house. I agreed cor- 
dially with the latter, and exerted myself to the utmost in 
support of their views. But I had been a preacher only 



Old Green's Chubch. G3 

some three or four months, and had acquired but little in- 
fluence. And, then, among those who contended for repair- 
ing there was scarcely one professor of religion of any name. 
Moral and religious considerations, therefore, had no weight 
with them, so that, when I said to them, you have good car- 
riages and horses, and can easily attend at the place selected 
for the new house, while the people there have no means of 
riding, and must be left wholly without preaching, they ex- 
pressed surprise that I should urge such a motive. 

Meantime the summer had ended, and the weather be- 
came too cold for comfort in the old church. It was impos- 
sible to build without the money of our opponents. The 
whole matter was dropped, and I was deeply discouraged. 

But man's extremity is God's opportunity. I made a visit 
that fall to Eichmond. On my return, and when within a 
few miles of home, I met a plain man in the road, of whom 
J enquired the news of the neighborhood. He said : " All 
the news I know is, that old Green's Church is burned 
down." 

Without reflecting, I promptly replied, "I am glad of it." 

"You'd better not say that," said the man, "for a good 
many people say that you hired some one to do it, and then 
went away to keep from being caught." 

This surprised me. To be charged with burning a church 
was a serious matter to one of my age, profession and con- 
dition. 

But my comfort sprang from the hope that the leading 
people of the county had confidence in my veracity, if they 
had no respect for my talents or religion, and would accept 
my denial of the charge as sufficient. With a large majority 
of the people this hope proved to be well-founded, and the 
result was that we soon had the new church in the new 
place. This was Shiloh Church, near the Belmont race- 
course, of which I shall have more to say presently. 



64: Shiloh Church Built. 

The Mystery Cleared. 

It may amuse, if it does not instruct the reader, to add, 
that after several years had passed, the burning of the old 
church was fully explained. Within the long period in 
which the church had not been used by the congregation, an 
old woman, by no means noted for her intelligence, amiabil- 
ity, or piety, had gotten exclusive possession of that spring, 
and was greatly annoyed at the use of it by the people. She 
became ill, and, in her alarm at the prospect of death, sent 
for a Methodist minister, to whom she confessed, among 
other sins, that of having burned Green's Church, pleading 
however, in extenuation of her guilt in the matter, that she 
"had not been able to keep a water-gourd at that spring 
since that young man had commenced preaching there." 

I have already stated, that after the burning of this old 
church, we commenced our efforts to secure the means of 
building a new one several miles to the east. The Bellemont 
Jockey Club was in vigorous operation. Indeed, it was the 
great institution of the county. The owner of the race-field 
kept a large and attractive house of entertainment. One 
mile below him there was a much older house of the same 
kind, which had long been liberally sustained by the travel- 
ling public. There was no little rivalry arid jealousy be- 
tween these two applicants for public patronage. The 
keeper of the older and plainer establishment was not a re- 
ligious man, but he did not sell spirituous liquors, and he 
hated horse-racing and card-playing. 

I called on this old man for help in building our contem- 
plated house of worship. 

"Well," said he, "on that part of my land which borders 

on J 's race-track, there is a beautiful site for a church. 

If you will place your building there, I will give you an acre 
of ground, covered with a beautiful grove of oaks. And I 
will give you besides $50 in money." 

This astonished and delighted me ; for, small as this con- 



WoEKING FOR TemPEEANCE. 65 

tribution may seem now, it was great then. It gave quite 
an impetus to my enterprise. It became the subject of con- 
versation in all companies, and some were uncharitable 

enough to insinuate that " Old Capt. M- only wanted to 

break down his hated rival, Col. J— — , and knew that the 
most effectual way to do it was to build a church as near as 
possible to his door." With the motive, however, we had no 
concern, but thankfully accepted the offer, and located the 
church in accordance with the old Captain's wish. 

Not many years rolled round before the Bellemont race- 
track and hotel were in the possession of a former member 
of the jockey club, but now a member of the Presbyterian 
Church ; the race-field converted into a cornfield ; and the 
large hotel into a seminary for young ladies. Such is a 
brief history of Shiloh Church, in the eastern part of Notto- 
way county. 

"Working foe Tempeeance. 

My active labors in the temperance cause commenced in 
the county of Nottoway, in 1828. The extent to which 
drinking intoxicants was carried on in this county was fear- 
ful. Wine-toddy and grog were almost in as universal use 
as bread and bacon. The people were generous livers, hos- 
pitable to a fault. 

I was long in determining how to commence operations. 
After many conferences with about half a dozen who favored 
my purpose — among whom were Dr. James Jones and Dr. 
Archibald Campbell — I determined on calling a public meet- 
ing. These gentlemen promised to attend and address the 
meeting. For wealth, intelligence and piety, they were 
among the foremost men in the county. The former was a 
leading Presbyterian and the latter a leading Methodist. I 
suggested to them the propriety of keeping the real design 
of the contemplated meeting as much of a secret as possible. 
I resolved on making the notice as enigmatical as I could „ 
so, after the preaching, I said. 
5 



66 The Temperance Cause. 

" There is an enemy ranging through our land, robbing 
and slaying our people at a fearful rate ; and so artful and 
insidious are his movements that many are robbed and even 
slain by him without once suspecting his designs or realiz- 
ing his power. Now, as neither the State Legislature nor 
the National Congress will, or possibly can, take any steps 
to arrest the progress of this enemy, I give notice that a 
meeting of the people, male and female, young and old, will 
be held on next Saturday, at Cellar Creek Meeting-house, to 
take this matter into their own hands. With a promise of 
the assistance of two of the most distinguished physicians 
and politicians in the country, I will then and there make 
fully known the character and designs of this invader, and 
suggest the best means of resisting him." 

Some, of course, knew what all this meant ; but many did 
not. 'Public curiosity was greatly excited, and when the ap- 
pointed day came a prodigious audience met. The ladies 
alone filled the house, while the -gentlemen filled the yard. 
My two friends and I did our best in the way of speech- 
making. Good behavior and good attention characterized 
the audience, but after all a beggarly dozen were all who 
could be prevailed on "to sign the pledge." 

A detail of my efforts in this cause for more than thirty 
years would fill a volume. Scores of incidents, of illustra- 
tive facts, might be given, which would now excite laughter 
and then tears ; but I forbear. Long before "temperance 
societies" were known, Rev. Drs. John H. and B. H. Rice 
did immense good in reclaiming drunkards, and saving 
young men from the demon of drunkenness. This they did 
by voluntarily abstaining from the habitual use of intoxi- 
cants, and often making gospel calls in their sermons to the 
same habit. I never heard the bitter consequences of in- 
temperance, both in this life and the next, presented in as 
impressive terms by any professed temperance lecturer as in 
the sermons of these great men. 



Dr. Theodorick Pryor's Estimate. 67 

During my residence in Nottoway nothing like a general 
revival of religion occurred among our people. But there 
was an obvious and steady increase in the knowledge and 
activity of the members of the church, and at almost every 
communion some additions or profession of their faith. But 
one case of apostacy occurred, and when I left there was 
not one member of whose piety I had reason to doubt. I 
am convinced that, during the five years I labored there, our 
permanent increase was greater than that of our good 
Methodist brethren, whose system of measures was so differ- 
ent from ours. 

[Eev. Dr. Theodorick Pryor writes of him at this period 
of his life, viz. : 

" He married in the fall of 1827, and, with his wife, resided 
at the Mountain Hall — the then elegant homestead of Dr. 
James Jones. Whilst pastor of the church in Nottoway . . . 
his labors covered the entire county, and extended into 
Amelia and Dinwiddie. No man could have been more ac- 
ceptable to the community. Possessed of a highly cultivated 
mind, of a genial disposition, he was a welcome guest in 
every household. His pulpit work was of a high order, very 
attractive and deeply impressive. "When he commenced 
preaching in Nottoway county, he found but few Presbyte- 
rians. "When, in the providence of God, he was called away, 
he left a strong church, constituted of the very best ele- 
ments in the community. Personally, your father was one of 
my very best friends. It was through his influence that I 
succeeded him in charge of the Nottoway Church. Wherever 
I went I found and felt the savor of his blessed work. My 
impression of your father is, that, practically, he was one of 
the wisest men I have ever known. Whilst firm and decided 
in his convictions and maintenance of the truth, he was pre- 
eminently conciliatory in manner. When called away from 
the county, I do not suppose he left an enemy in it, or any 
one who was not kind and respectful in feeling toward him. 



68 Dr. Pryor's Estimate. 

He conciliated in the very highest degree the affectionate 
esteem and love of Dr. James Jones and family, and, indeed, 
of all the families with which he was intimate. I cannot 
conceive of a man better qualified to do good. "Wherever he 
lived and labored, his work testified to his worth. In con- 
clusion, my dear young brother, I have only to say, that I 
heartily wish the church were now blessed with a thousand 
William S. "Whites. 

"Yours, in the precious faith of the gospel, 

"Theodorick Pryor."] 



CHAPTER VL 

Pastoeal Sketches. 

Infidelity in Peospect of Death. — "Caught with Guile." — Inteb- 
ested Heabebs.— Anti-Peesbytebianism Cubed. — "The Devil 
Threw Htm Down and Tobe Him. " — Eaely Conversion ; E. F. P. ; 
E. W. W. ; A. K. ; A. H. ; E. S. ; A. A. B. 

RICHARD HARDAWAY, Esq., was one of the leading 
citizens of Nottoway county when I went there in 1827. 
He married the daughter of John Rutherford, Esq., of 
Richmond. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church ; 
he a gentleman, but a skeptic. Through the connection of 
his wife with my church I made his acquaintance. He re- 
ceived and treated me 'hospitably whenever I visited him, 
but always seemed reserved and even embarrassed in gky 
presence. I readily perceived the cause of this, and by de- 
grees succeeded in convincing him that a preacher of the 
gospel might be a gentleman. In the summer of 1829 I 
held a meeting in a grove, near his residence, where there 
was no house of worship. His attention was soon arrested 
and fixed, but he exhibited no depth of feeling until the 
congregation sang, at the conclusion of the last service, 
Hymn 552 of our collection — 

" The day of wrath, that dreadful day," etc. 

He wept freely, but I purposely avoided speaking to him. 
I knew his disposition, and thought I knew the treatment 
his case demanded. The first intelligence I had respecting 
him was that he was very sick, desired to see me, but his 
physicians objected to my being sent for. His disease, how- 

69 



70 The Dying Infidel. 

ever, soon became so violent, and his distress of mind so 
great, that the doctors changed their minds, and, infidels as 
they all were, of their own accord, sent for me. When I 
arrived I found three in consultation. They said, "You 
must do something to quiet his mind, or medicine will do 
him no good." 

As I entered his room he looked wildly at me and said, 
"You have come too late. Did you ever read Dr. Young's 
account of young Altamont? My case is precisely like his." 
I replied, "How do you know it is too lateT He answered, 
"The devil tells me so, and I have yielded to him so long- 
that I must yield now. I know there is no mercy for such 
a sinner as I am." "You are a great sinner," I replied, 
"but not so great as Saul of Tarsus. He was a persecutor and 
a blasphemer, and yet he found mercy, You are not a per- 
secutor; you have been friendly and polite to me as a min- 
ister of the gospel." Here he stopped me abruptly, saying, 
" Not as a minister of the gospel ; I had no respect for you 
as such ; I treated you as I did merely to gratify my wife, 
and because it would have been disgraceful not to do so. 
Had I lived when Saul of Tarsus did, I should have been far 
worse than he was. His case affords me no comfort." I 
then said to him, "Remember the case of the penitent thief. 
Even he found mercy, and why may not you V He answered, 
"I find no encouragement from his case. True, I am not a 
thief in the popular sense of the term ; but I have stolen, 
yes, stolen my neighbors' money at cards and on the race- 
field, and, what is worse, I have robbed God; yes, sir, robbed 
my Maker. And then my birth, education and opportuni- 
ties have been greatly superior to those of that thief. He 
probably never heard of Christ until they met on the cross ; 
he embraced the first offer he ever had, while I have heard 
of asd rejected him all my life." 

He then became greatly excited, avowing there was no 
mercy for him ; that he must perish, for he deserved it. I 



The Dying Infidel. 71 

then said, "There is one thing you can and must do: you 
can pray." " No, no !" he replied ; "prayer in me now would 
be blasphemy." Then said I, "May I pray for you?" He 
ansv ered very promptly, "No, sir ; even your prayers could 
not avail for me now." 

I then said, "You say you have been an infidel. Are you 
one still f He answered, "By no means. If I had but one 
breath to draw, I would spend that breath in renouncing it. 
I firmly believe that the Bible is the word of God, and that 
I must suffer all it threatens." I replied, "You said just 
now that the devil told you that there was no mercy for you; 
that it was too late for you to pray, etc. Now, listen to me 
for a moment. The Bible says 'the devil is a liar.' It also 
says, 'Ask, and ye shall receive.' "Which will you believe, 
God or the devil?" After a very solemn pause he said, " I will 
believe God and pray." He then closed his eyes and clasped 
his hands, and offered audibly a brief, but earnest and most 
appropriate prayer. When he closed, I said, " Shall we now 
pray for you?" Several of his near relatives were present. 
He replied, "If you please." We knelt and prayed. He 
was very calm. I left the room in search of his physicians. 
They had remained under the magnificent elms which 
shaded the yard. They plead, as an apology for doing so, 
the intense heat of the weather. They saw him, and ex- 
pressed gratification at his composure. I remained through 
the day, and from time to time had brief interviews with 
him. He now received the teachings of the gospel as a lit- 
tle child. I spent much time with him during the three 
following weeks. Even his doctors said that, if his mind 
could have been thus quieted a few days sooner, he would 
have recovered. He died in three weeks, giving as full proof 
of conversion as a sick aud dying man could. One of these 
physicians, a young man, abandoned the practice of medi- 
cine and became a preacher of the gospel. 



72 Pastokal Sketches. 

" Caught with Guile." 

Mrs. Dr. E. S., of N., was the wife of a young and rising 
physician, and had been reared and educated with great 
care, and held a high social position in one of the best com- 
munities in the State. 

Unfortunately, neither Mrs. S., nor her husband, was a 
professor of religion. Both, however, were constant and 
most respectful attendants on my ministry, and among my 
most generous supporters. So far as she had enjoyed any 
religious training, it had been of a sort to fill the mind with 
erroneous views of the Calvinistic in contradistinction to the 
Arminian creed. Her extreme politeness, however, restrained 
her from any expression of those views in my presence. But, 
after our acquaintance had continued for several months, she 
one day addressed a mutual friend of ours substantially thus : 
"I like Mr. and Mrs. White very much, and shall take great 
pleasure in hearing him preach so long as he refrains from 
the discussion of predestination; but if he ever introduces 
those topics with a view to propagate them, I shall cease to 
attend his church." 

On being told this, I gave some evasive, but kindly, re- 
ply, but at the same time set my wits to work to determine 
on the wisest course to be taken on such a subject with such 
a lady. The judgment must not only be convinced, but 
prejudice must be removed and kind feeling preserved. To 
do this an expedient was adopted which some may think of 
doubtful propriety. 

The Bev. Dr. Matthews had published in The Southern 
Religious Telegraph a series of letters on "The Divine Pur- 
pose," which, I knew, Mrs. S. had never seen. These letters 
had been recently republished in a small volume. Now, I 
thought that this little book was the very thing for my Ar- 
minian friend; but how to approach her was the question. 
She had carefully refrained from making her sentiments 
known to me, and could have no suspicion that I had heard 



Pastoral Sketches. 73 

-what she said to our mutual friend. I suspected that some- 
thing" more than politeness had led to her reticence ; for she 
was a lady of uncommon candor, expressing her opinions on 
all other subjects with great freedom. My course soon ap- 
peared plain. I said to my wife, "Suppose we go and 
spend the night with our good friends, Dr. and Mrs. S." She 
consented, and I armed myself with a copy of Dr. Matthews' 
little book. We were received with great cordiality, and 
treated with elegant hospitality. The evening was passed 
in free and pleasant conversation on general topics, social, 
literary, and even religious; but I carefully avoided any al- 
lusion to the hated doctrines. When the hour arrived for 
leaving, on the next day, I went to our room, took my little 
book from the trunk, and thus soliloquized : 

"If I go away without some honest, earnest effort to re- 
move from the mind of this good friend the prejudices which 
now exclude from it the truth of God, I shall be very cul- 
pable; but, then, in seeking to remove prejudices of one 
sort, I may implant others. If she suspects me of a pur- 
pose to make her a Calvinist, I may lose the influence God 
has evidently given me over her. I must approach her in- 
directly." 

Now, Mrs. S. was not only a highly-cultivated and refined 
ladj-, but a care-taking, skillful housekeeper, and I felt sure 
that, as soon as we left, she w r ould go to our room, to see if 
we had forgotten anything ; so I opened my little book, and, 
turning it down upon a table so as to make the impression 
on her mind that I had read just to that place, 1 purposely 
forgot it, and, breathing a prayer that God would own the 
expedient, we returned home. 

This was early in the week. On the following Sabbath I 
preached Christ the only Saviour as fully and faithfully as I 
could. I had not proceeded far with my discourse when I 
made the discovery that my friend, Mrs. S., was giving un- 
usual attention, and before I closed she wept freely. She 



74 Pastoral Sketches. 

was not given to weeping, and this fact increased my en- 
couragement. Strange, and even censurable, as it may 
seem to some, when the worship was over, I avoided speak- 
ing with her, but hurried out of the church by one door as 
I saw her passing through another. She was a lady of too 
much intelligence and too much commendable pride to be 
willing to be made a gazing stock for others ; and then I 
knew that I could say nothing more appropriate to her than 
much I had already said in the sermon. All she now 
needed was time and opportunity to think and pray alone. 

My purpose was to visit her early on Monday. Accord- 
ingly, I had no sooner taken my breakfast than I set out for 
this purpose. She met me in the porch, and said: 

"I had just called a servant to send for you as I saw you 
alight from your horse. I am a miserable sinner." 

As we entered the house together, I asked her how she 
had made the discovery. She said in reply : 

" You remember the last visit you and Mrs. White paid 
us. When you left, you forgot the book you had been read- 
ing, and, being interested in the title, I commenced reading 
where you had finished. My attention was at once arrested, 
and I determined to begin at the beginning and read the 
book through. This I have done twice from the beginning 
to the end, and portions I have read three or four times. It 
not only removed my objections to the doctrine of election, 
but, when this was done, I at once, and distinctly, saw that 
I was a lost sinner. The sermon yesterday only deepened 
this conviction." 

I need only add that she soon became a member of the 
church, and lived and died a firm Presbyterian and a con- 
sistent Christian. 

Interested Hearers. 
In the summer of 1829 I went as one of a committee of 
Presbytery to take part in the organization of a Presbyte- 



Pastoral Sketches. 75 

rian church in the county of L. There was no house of 
worship at all adequate to the accommodation of the large 
congregation — especially on the Sabbath. Accordingly we 
preached in a grove. It devolved on me to preach on Sab- 
bath morning. The congregation was immense. The wind 
blew freely in my face, and the tramping and neighing of 
the horses tied to the trees made it very doubtful whether I 
could be heard. To determine this question I fixed my 
eyes upon a man who stood Jeaning against a tree more re- 
mote from where I stood than any other hearer, and con- 
cluded that if I kept his attention I might be satisfied that 
the rest heard me. He seemed so attentive that I was not 
only convinced that he heard me, but hoped that he heard 
to some good purpose. When the worship was over, it so 
happened that in riding away I fell in with this very man. 
I had no acquaintance with him, but recognizing him as the 
man who leant against the tree, I asked him if he were not 
the man. He replied that he was. " I am glad to meet 
you," I said, "especially as I desire to know whether, stand- 
ing so far off, you heard me." " Oh, yes," he said, "I heard 
every word, and I'll tell you what I was thinking about." I 
replied : 

"I shall be glad to know what- your thoughts were," 
hoping to discover that some good impression had been 
made on him; and added, "do tell me candidly just what 
you were thinking about." 

'•'Well," he said, "I was thinking all the time you were 
preaching that your lungs must be made of white-oak." 

"My dear sir," I replied, "I am deeply grieved to find 
that you were thinking of my lungs and not of your own 
soul." 

Some further conversation convinced me that the tree 
against which he leaned had as wakeful a conscience as he 
had. And yet he seemed not to lose one word of the 
sermon. 



76 Pastoral Sketches. 

Young preachers are often sadly mistaken in the judg- 
ment they form of the interest manifested by their hearers 
in their preaching. 

Anti-Presbyterianism Cured. 

Another incident, which occurred at the same meeting, 
may be worth relating. 

Just as I had mounted my horse to leave the ground, my 
attention was attracted by a group of gentlemen, whose dress 
and manners convinced me that they belonged to the best 
class of citizens — I mean the wealthiest, most intelligent 
and influential. In the centre of the group one stood who 
seemed to be addressing the rest in a very earnest and im- 
passioned style. He smote the palm of one hand with the 
fist of the other, accompanying the action with words I 
could not hear, but which evidently expressed much ear- 
nestness and some anger. This gentleman was W. O., Esq., 
a prominent lawyer and a man of great influence. 

A few days after, I met, in the house of a friend, one of 
the gentlemen to whom he was speaking. I said to him plea- 
santly, " Our friend, Mr. O., seemed to be preaching at the 
close of our late meeting almost as earnestly as I. had done 
during its progress. I do not wish to be impertinent nor to 
tempt you to violate the rules of good breeding, but if you 
do not object, I should be gratified to know what interested 
him so deeply." 

"There is no impropriety," he replied, "in telling you. 
To be perfectly candid, I think he would be pleased for 
me to tell you. The substance of his speech was this : 

"'I am resolved to spare neither time, effort, nor money, to 
keep these Presbyterians from getting a foothold in L. For 
this, among others, I have two reasons — viz. : 1. They are 
shrewd, smart, meddlesome people. Their preachers espe- 
cially are educated men, and on this account they aspire to 
be the equals of the first gentlemen in the community, and 



Pastoral Sketches. 77 

accordingly they meddle with the opinions and claim the 
right of rebuking the social habits of all classes of people. 
2. If they once become established here, you will never be 
able to dislodge them.'" 

I simply replied, "Tell my good friend, Mr. O., that I live 
in the adjoining county where he practices law; that I live 
very near to the court-house, and when he comes to N. court 
I shall be very glad to see him at my house." 

A missionary was sent to take charge of this newly organ- 
ized church, and within less than twelve months my friend, 
Mr. O., became a member, and in less than twelve months 
more a ruling elder in the church, the organization of which 
had so provoked him. He lived to serve the church with 
great fidelity for many years, and died deeply lamented by 
an extensive circle of friends and brethren. 

As young ministers should not readily be elated by favor- 
able, so they should not be readily discouraged by unfavor- 
able appearances. Indeed, the manifestation of opposition 
is often the way in which an awakened conscience first dis- 
plays itself. It is nothing but a desperate effort to silence 
by violence the first whisperings of conscience. Mr. O. con- 
fessed that this was the case with him, and that his own 
speech did more that day to convince him of the native de- 
pravity of his heart than the preaching, 

" The Devil Threw him Down and Tare him." 
Mrs. M. P. was the wife of a physician in the county of 
A. She was young, accomplished, and beautiful. Neither 
she nor her husband was a professor of religion. He was 
well-bred, intelligent, and skillful in his profession, but was 
an undisguised skeptic, and, on some occasions, a scoffer. 
She had been reared under religious influences, but was, to 
all appearances, wholly unconcerned as to her spiritual in- 
terests, and extravagantly gay. On one occasion I preached 
at night to a small audience in a private house near their 



78 Pastoral Sketches. 

residence. Mrs. P. attended this service, accompanied by 
two gay young ladies who were visiting her. The doctor 
declined going, although urged by ladies. They plead their 
want of an escort, but he, in reply, plead that the distance 
was short, and the carriage-driver everyway trustworthy. 

I closed my sermon with an earnest request that each of 
my hearers would consent to spend, on their return home, 
fifteen minutes in secret meditation and prayer. I urged 
that this was a very small portion of the entire day and 
night thus to devote to God. 

As the three ladies rode home, Mrs. P. asked her two 
young friends if they intended to comply with my request. 
They answered promptly in the negative, and laughed 
heartily at her asking them such a question. She replied, 
with much solemnity, " I think the request very reasonable, 
and intend to comply with it." On reaching home, Mrs. P. 
at once withdrew to a room in a remote part of the house, 
and kneeling, attempted to pray. The attempt greatly in- 
creased her concern. In a few days she rested peacefully 
on Christ, and avowed her purpose to consecrate herself to 
his service. I visited her in the earlier stage of her awak- 
ening, and was highly gratified with her intelligence and 
firmness. She then very modestly intimated her fear that 
her husband would be offended at her course. She said he 
had thus far exhibited no ill-temper, but only sought, as he 
expressed it, to "laugh her out of her fanaticism." 

After a few weeks I receive^ a note from her, desiring me 
to visit her, stating that she was in the deepest distress. I 
hastened to her house and, to my great surprise, found her 
closely confined to her chamber, with her first and only 
child — some ten months old— in her arms. As I entered 
the room she wept profusely, and said, u O Mr. White, I 
am a ruined woman." She said no more, but continued to 
utter cries that pierced the heart like daggers. 

After a few words of instruction, followed by prayer, she 
became calm, and told me her story. 



Pastoral Sketches. 79 

She said : " My dear husband first tried to shake my faith 
by ridicule, then argument, and then — I am afraid to utter 
it — he tried violence. Two nights ago he retired early, and 
when I came to the chamber I thought he was soundly 
asleep. Haying read my accustomed portion of Scripture, 
I knelt at my chair to offer prayer. I was soon startled by 
his voice, and still more so by his springing out of bed, and 
seizing me around the waist, placed me on my feet directly 
before him. Then, looking at me sternly, as I trembled 
and wept, he said, 'You must quit this nonsense, or Iioill 
quit you.'' I at once felt as if I were sustained in a way I 
could not explain, and said, ' You are my husband ; as such 
I love you dearly, and if you will give me the opportunity, I 
think I can convince you that my becoming a Christian will 
not cause me to love you less, but help me to love you a great 
deal more. JBut Jesus Christ is my Saviour, and if you 
force upon me the alternative, I cannot deny him.' He then 
left the room abruptly, ordered his horse and sulky, packed 
his trunk, and left. I have neither seen nor heard from 
Mm since. Oh ! my friend and pastor, tell me what to do." 

Her statement affected me deeply, and yet I could not re- 
frain from answering hopefully, and, almost humorously, 
said: "I know Dr. P. very well. He is a gentleman and a 
fond husband and father, and he had a very pious mother, 
and is the child of many prayers. Rest assured that he 
will not go far nor remain long absent." Having again 
joined her in prayer, I left her much more tranquil and 
hopeful. 

I heard nothing from her during the remnant of that 
week. Bat on the ensuing Sabbath, as I went to the pulpit, 
I saw Mrs. P. sitting near the centre of the church, and, as 
I arose to commence worship, I saw him sitting very near 
the door. His countenance, at that distance, seemed to in- 
dicate rage rather than repentance, and strange emotions 
were awakened by the apprehension that he had come for 



80 Pastoral Sketches. 

some bad purpose. It was impossible to refrain from look- 
ing at him often during the sermon. 

My text, I well remember, was, " How shall we escape if 
we neglect so great salvation V In the course of the ser- 
mon I said, if mere neglect may prove fatal to the soul, then 
who can conceive, much less describe, the doom of those who 
make open and even violent opposition to the gospel. Just 
then I purposely averted my eyes from him for obvious 
reasons. Nor did I observe him again until the benediction 
was pronounced and the people had commenced slowly leav- 
ing the house. 

Then I saw him approaching the pulpit, with a counte- 
nance which, to me, seemed terrific. I descended, and 
placed myself in front of the pulpit, resolved to meet the 
issue, whatever it might be, with the utmost coolness. 
When he had approached very near he raised both arms, 
then, bringing them down slowly, rested one on each of my 
shoulders and sunk to the floor, exclaiming, with a loud 
voice, as he fell, " Oh ! tell me, sir, if there is one drop of 
mercy in all heaven for such a sinner as I am." 

This was heard in the yard, and the people came hasten- 
ing back into the house. A highly intelligent and excellent 
Methodist lady, Mrs. F., commenced shouting, and we were 
on the borders of a terrific storm. Raising my voice to its 
utmost pitch, I called on all to be silent; and there was at 
once perfect silence, save suppressed sighs and groans that 
came from every part of the house. 

I then called two of the elders by name to come to me. 
They did so promptly, and we raised the Doctor from the 
floor and seated him on a bench. He made no noise, but 
his face was livid, and his whole frame shook with emotion. I 
sat beside him and said, "My dear friend, get home as soon 
as you can, and I will go with you." With a tremulous voice 
he said, with peculiar emphasis, "Will you go home with 
me ?" "Assuredly I will, and with the utmost pleasure." Each 



Pastoral Sketches. 81 

of the two elders supported him out of the house. We found 
his wif e awaiting us at the door, bathed in tears and attended 
by several ladies, who had wisely kept her from coming to 
us at the pulpit, and were kindly endeavoring to quiet her 
nerves and compose her mind. I accompanied them home 
and spent the night. 

I shall not attempt any recital of what then transpired, 
further than to say that he found no peace of mind for sev- 
eral days. But at length his peace became like a river, and in 
a few weeks both he and his wife appeared before the ses- 
sion together, were received into the church, and became 
exemplary and useful servants of Christ. 

Early Conversion. 
E. F. P. died at the age of ten years and seven months. 
She lost her mother at the early age of three years. Her 
parents, being members of the Presbyterian Church, she 
was dedicated in baptism to Christ while an infant. Her 
father was faithful in doing what he could to supply the 
loss occasioned by her mothers death. This greatly en- 
deared him to the child, and the child to him. Her fond- 
ness for her father was extreme. She studied his comfort, 
not only obeying all his commands promptly and cheerfully, 
but in contriving whatever she could to make him happy. 
She read her Bible a great deal, and never seemed happier 
than when reading it to him. She also read her Sabbath- 
school books with much eagerness, and, after reading them, 
would repeat their contents to her father. This she could 
do with much accuracy. She was tenderly attached to her 
Sabbath-school teacher. "When she became ill, she asked 
that this teacher should be sent for, and said, "If she does 
not get here before I die, give her my love, bid her farewell, 
and tell her to meet me in heaven." She sent a similar 
message to her classmates. She expressed a wish to see her 
pastor. He hastened to her bedside, and is free to declare 
6 



82 Pastoral Sketches. 

that her state of mind and heart evinced itself in expressions 
that were wonderful. She spoke in most appropriate lan- 
guage of Christ's great love for her, and of her love for and 
reliance upon him. She was confident that she would die 
and go to heaven. "V\ Tien asked why she felt so confident, 
she said: "Christ is in heaven. "When he was on earth he 
said, ' Suffer little children to come unto me '; and I am sure 
that I want to go to him more than anything else." 

So considerate was she of the comfort of her father and 
others, that she would often decline even necessary services 
to avoid giving them trouble. 

Looking round upon those in the room, she said, "If I 
have done wrong to any of you, I hope you will forgive me " 
She made a careful distribution of certain little articles be- 
longing to her among her brothers and sisters, and bade 
them all a calm and affectionate farewell. 

Her disease was very violent, and her bodily sufferings 
very great: yet she not only never uttered a murmuring 
word, nor exhibited the least restlessness, but seemed 
throughout perfectly happy. 

I received this little girl's parents into the church, buried 
her mother, baptized and then buried her. She was truly 
a precious lamb of the great and good Shepherd. Borne in 
his arms along the banks of the river of life and beneath 
the shade of that tree whose leaves are for the healing of 
the nations, she is safe and happy forever. 

Instead of being surprised that children are converted so 
early, if the covenant was duly considered and duty duly 
performed, the surprise should be that many more are not 
thus converted. 

E. W. "W. seemed to be pious at nine years of age. At 
that early age her father found her alone in her mother's 
chamber reading the Bible with great apparent interest. 
He said to her, "My daughter, do you love to read the 



Pastoral Sketches. 83 

Bible?" "Yes, sir; very much," was her reply. He added, 
"Can you tell me why you love it?" She paused awhile 
and said, "Because there are so many pretty prayers in it." 
She was reading the Psalms. 

When eleven years of age, she went to her father's study 
on Saturday morning preceding a communion Sabbath, sat 
on his knee, rested her head on his shoulder, and com- 
menced weeping. He asked her very tenderly why she 
wept; but, for some time, she could make no reply. At 
length, with apparent effort, she merely said, "The com- 
munion is to be to-morrow," and then wept more freely. 
On inquiry, her father discovered that she greatly desired 
to participate in the sacred ordinance. On questioning her 
closely, he found that her ideas on the subject were clear and 
scriptural. But he proposed that she would wait until she 
was older and more confirmed in her experience. She 
seemed to understand very clearly the meaning and force 
of her father's reasons, and yielded. 

This scene, with very slight variation, was reenacted at 
each communion for the ensuing twelve months. All this 
time she read carefully books fitted to explain the scriptural 
experience of the true Christian. At the close of that year, 
when she was just twelve years of age, she appeared before 
the session, gave very satisfactory answers to the questions 
asked her, and was admitted to the communion of the church. 
She was consistent as a religious child, then as a well-edu- 
cated young lady, and still lives, adorning her profession as 
a pious wife and mother of a large family of children. 

A. R. was much such a child as the foregoing. At the 
same early age she seemed pious, but made no profession of 
religion, nor had she ever expressed any desire to be con- 
nected with the church. When about twelve years old she 
was attacked with a lingering disease, of which she died 
after a confinement of two months. At an early stage of 



84 Pastoral Sketches. 

her sickness she communicated freely with her godly mo- 
ther as to her religious ideas and feelings. She gave the 
most satisfactory evidence of a thorough change of heart, 
spoke confidently of dying, and expressed the utmost willing- 
ness to die. On one occasion, after speaking of the reasons 
she had for being happy in the prospect of death, in a way 
to satisfy the most incredulous, she paused for a while and 
commenced weeping. Her fond and anxious mother inquired 
for the cause of her distress, to which she replied, " Mother, 
I was only distressed at thinking that I should have been so 
foolish and wicked as to put off giving my heart to Christ so 
long." 

This ebullition of grief passed away ; her peace again be- 
came as a river; and, at the early age of twelve, she died 
happily, never having ceased to regret that she had not 
given her heart to Christ sooner. 

A. H. was the son of an intelligent, rich and pious father. 
He applied for church-membership at the early age of four- 
teen years. So satisfactory was the examination he sus- 
tained that the session did not hesitate to admit him. He 
held fast his profession as a boy, a young man and a minis- 
ter of the gospel — which sacred office he still holds. 

E. S. was a little girl, whose mind and heart seemed im- 
bued with love to her Saviour at the age of eight years. 
This was evinced in all the ordinary ways, which need not 
be repeated. "When just at the early age mentioned above, 
her father found her reading the Bible and weeping freely 
as she read. On inquiring into the cause of her grief, and 
taking her Testament in his hand as he talked with her, he 
discovered that she had been reading the nineteenth chapter 
of the Gospel by John. He said to- her, "My child, what 
is there in this chapter to make you weep ? " 

"Why, father," she said, "don't you see that near the 
beginning of the chapter they said, 'we find no fault in him/ 



Pastoral Sketches. 85 

and yet, before the chapter ends, it tells us that they cruci- 
fied him? How can I help crying to think of that?" 

Two days after this touching incident, this child's clothes 
took fire from standing too near the fire-place, and, as there 
was no one with her in the room to extinguish the flames, 
she was so badly burned that she survived only about 
twenty-four hours. During this time of intense suffering 
her mind was clear, calm, and peaceful. She spoke of her 
Saviour with great propriety and warmth of affection, and 
several times referred to the fact that they declared him in- 
nocent, and yet crucified him. She never referred to this 
without weeping bitterly. She died very happily. 

A. A. B. was the daughter of E. B , Esq., one of the 
wealthiest, most intelligent, but yet one of the most irreli- 
gious men in the congregation to which I ministered when 
first licensed to preach. Mr. B. was a lawyer who, though 
irreligious, was not profane nor dissipated. He might have 
been considered a man of good moral character, but whose 
views of religious questions were in open conflict w 7 ith the 
teachings of the word of God. He had a large and gay 
family. He lived freely and entertained generously. His 
children w r ere trained in the ways of the world. To gratify 
their natural love of worldly pleasure he spared neither 
pains nor expense. A. A. was his third daughter. The 
eldest was married, and tho second grown and much ad- 
mired. The whole family was utterly destitute of all know- 
ledge of, or interest in, evangelical religion. 

Soon after my settlement I preached in a school-house, to 
a very small audience. This school-house was within a few 
hundred yards of Mr. B.'s house. Yet the only member of 
his large family who attended was the subject of this 
sketch — then just thirteen years of age. She was large for 
her age, not very handsome, but of an engaging person and 
attractive manners for a child. She was awakened at this 



86 Pastoral Sketches. 

meeting to a sense of her sin and misery, and, when the 
small audience dispersed, she remained of her own accord, 
to converse with me on the subject. Her knowledge of reli- 
gion was very limited, for she had enjoyed no religious 
training. Still, her convictions of personal guilt and danger 
were deep and scriptural. I gave her such counsel as I 
deemed appropriate. Her impressions were abiding. She 
soon visited me at my house. She seemed to have accepted 
Christ as he is offered in the gospel. She gave very satis- 
factory reasons for the hope that was in her, and expressed 
a desire to be admitted to the church. I advised her to 
wait, in consideration of her youth and the probable oj)po- 
sition her family, and especially her father, would make to 
this step. She yielded readily, but sadly, especially when I 
told her that I hoped God designed to make her the first 
fruits of religion in the large and gay family to which she 
belonged 

About two months after her first visit to me, her second 
sister was married. The wedding was extravagantly gay. 
A very large company was invited. Musicians were brought 
from Petersburg, and for two or three days and nights the 
large house resounded with music and dancing, and every 
form of fashionable revelry. 

Through these gay scenes A. A. bore herself with Chris- 
tian propriety. She was modest, good-humored, and polite 
to everybody, yet firmly refrained from direct participation in 
the dance Her father observed this, and spoke very kindly 
to her (for he was a very affectionate father), urging her to 
do as her sisters and young friends were doing, and not make 
herself an object of ridicule and disgust. She modestly and 
firmly declined. Her father then took her on his knee and 
told her that, if she would only conform to the customs of 
the party, he would give her fifty dollars. To this she very 
meekly replied, "Papa, I am sure you would not have me 
to violate my conscience for money. I cannot do it." This 



Pastoral Sketches. 87 

provoked him, and he told her to go to the kitchen and as- 
sociate with the cook, as she was the only Christian in his 
family. This so distressed her that she left the room in 
tears; but she controlled her feelings and soon returned, 
only to persist in the course she had adopted. 

More than a year passed away, during which she often 
visited me, improved in knowledge, and grew in grace. Dur- 
ing this time she said little about joining the church ; still 
it was evident that she desired to do so. 

At length she made me a visit, during the week preceding' 
a stated communion, expressly to make application for mem- 
bership. She prefaced her application by saying that she 
had recently heard her father say to a prominent member 
of the church, who was trying to convince him of his errors, 
" Sir, it is useless to endeavor to change my opinions, for I 
adopted them when I was fourteen years old, and they have 
continued to strengthen ever since." 

Now, thought the dear girl, I will ask papa's permission 
to join the church, and, if he objects because of my age, I 
will remind him of what he said to Captain Jones about 
making up his mind at fourteen ; and, as that is my age, he 
certainly cannot object to my doing as he did. "But," she 
added, " I wished to see you before I made my wishes known 
to him." I encouraged her to ask for her father's consent, 
assuring her that, if she obtained it, she should be received 
to full membership in the church. 

She met me at church on Saturday preceding the com- 
munion, and gave me the following account of her interview 
with her father. She said : 

"I went into his office, and, standing at his side, laid my 
arm on his shoulder, but said nothing. He laid down his. 
pen, looked at me very kindly, and said, 'My daughter, 
what do you want?' But my heart failed me. I could say 
nothing, but walked quietly out of the room. When I had 
returned to my chamber, I remembered that I had not 



88 Pastoral Sketches. 

prayed before I went to the office, and then understood why 
I failed to make my errand known. So I locked my door, 
knelt and prayed for God to help me to do what I wanted, 
and to do it in the right way. I then returned to the office, 
had no difficulty in making my errand known, and at once 
received my father's permission to do as I pleased in the 
matter." 

She accordingly appeared before the session, was cor- 
dially welcomed to the communion of the church, and made 
ever afterwards one of our most useful members. Such was 
her good sense, prudence, and piety, that she soon acquired 
great influence over her whole family. Their gaiety con- 
tinued, but her feelings were respected. Nor did she ever 
swerve in the least from the line of strict Christian pro- 
priety. The whole family became constant attendants at 
church and generous supporters of the ministry. 

In about a year after A. A. joined the church, her father 
became ill. She conversed with him freely about his future 
prospects. He listened to her respectfully, and finally asked 
that I be sent for. I saw him several times. He spoke 
freely on the subject of religion, but his views were indis- 
tinct and confused. They certainly afforded him no com- 
fort. He died without any discoverable saving change. But 
from that time, a work of grace went forward in the family. 
The mother, two sisters, and a brother, soon became mem- 
bers of the church. The latter still lives, and has for many 
years been one of the best ruling elders in the church. 

Meantime, A. A. grew to womanhood, married one of our 
best ministers, and made one of the best minister's wives I 
have ever known. She died recently, leaving one daughter, 
the wife of a minister, and other children, a blessing to their 
father and the church. 

These are a few, and only a few, out of many instances of 
early piety which have occurred under my own observation. 



Pastoral Sketches. 89 

These are, perhaps, the most striking; but many others 
might be stated, well-fitted to convince every candid mind 
that the children are often the most interesting and pro- 
mising portion of a minister's charge. It has been perti- 
nently said, that "the shepherd who does not look well 
to the lambs of his flock will soon have no flock to look 
after." 

But I must not leave this subject until I have specifically 
stated that the greatest caution must be observed, and the 
greatest skill displayed, in dealing with the religious con- 
victions and feelings of children. They must be taught to 
restrain mere animal feeling. They must be guarded against 
those excitements in which some ministers so delight, and to 
create which such unreasonable and unscriptural measures 
are often adopted. No class of persons so much need the 
ballast which only saving truth can give to the mind. 

The reader is referred to the account I have elsewhere 
given of revivals in Charlottesville Female Academy. 



CHAPTEK VII. 

1832-1836. 

Leaves Nottoway foe Scottsville, Va. — Me. (aftebwaeds Rev. De.) 
Peyton Haeeison builds a Paesonage foe him at his own" 
Chaeges. — Revival —Rev. Daniel Bakeb. — Accepts Agency 
foe Ameeican Teact Society. — Obsebvations on his Agency and- 

SlMILAE EnTSEPEISES AuXILIAEY TO THE ChTJECH. 

"Rejoice that man is hurled 
From change to change unceasingly, 
His soul's wings never furled." 

TN April, 1832, our Presbvtery met at Providence Church, 
-*- in Louisa county, Va. I was invited by the session of 
the church in Scottsville, Albemarle county, then vacant, to 
visit them on my way to the meeting. I did so, and the re- 
sult was a unanimous call to become their pastor. With 
great difficulty, and after much reflection, I accepted this 
call, and prepared to leave my much-loved people in Notto- 
way. 

They made strenuous opposition to my leaving them ; but, 
when they discovered that I was clear in my judgment as to 
my duty, they yielded. 

[Mr. Cralle Jones, a ruling elder at the time, gave us, in 
May, 1886, a touching account of the congregational meet- 
ing, called to unite with Mr. White in his application to 
Presbytery for permission to take charge of the Scottsville 
Church. The vote of the congregation was silent — not a 
voice was heard. The Eev. Mr. Pryor, who was to succeed 
him, was on the floor, in the vigor and beauty of his youth.] 

Every feeling of my heart was opposed to this step, but 
judgment and conscience impelled me to go. With many 

90 



SCOTTSVILLE. 91 

tears I bade them farewell on the second Sabbath in June, 
1832. 

Scottsville was then a small village on James river, but 
rapidly increasing in size and importance. A turnpike had 
recently been constructed, extending to Bockfish Gap, and 
inviting the trade of the Valley of Virginia in that direction. 
The result was that so small a village rarely ever commanded 
so active a trade. A hundred large Valley wagons have been 
seen unloading their rich freight of flour, bacon, venison 
hams, butter, cheese, beeswax, etc , in one day ; and this 
when the population did not exceed five hundred persons of 
all ages and conditions. Small as the population was, it 
was far too large to find comfortable habitations. A small, 
but neat, Presbyterian church was the only house of wor- 
ship, and this incomplete when I arrived. The church con- 
tained about forty members, with four highly intelligent and 
active ruling elders. My predecessor, the Rev. Samuel 
Hurd, a man of blessed memory, had gathered and organ- 
ized this little church. His work was well and faithfully 
done. He left them in so healthful a state that it was 
pleasant to succeed him. A Sabbath-school, Bible-class, 
and a congregational prayer-meeting were in successful ope- 
ration. 

But only the half of my time could be given to this peo- 
ple. The other half was given to a little church in Buck- 
ingham, eight miles from Scottsville, called "Mars' Hill." 
Here were a few Presbyterians, intelligent and excellent 
people. Among these was Mrs. Martha Nicholas, of "The 
Seven Islands," a lady of large estate, yet larger heart. She 
was, to a great extent, to my little family, what Mrs. Dr. Jones 
had been in Nottoway. She was a widow, over three-score 
years of age, with three grown sons still living with her. 
Her hospitality was unbounded. She loved and labored for 
her church. She loved and sustained her pastor and his 
family. 



92 Peyton Hakkison, Esq. 

It was put into the call that I should reside in the village 
of Scottsville; but so rapidly had it increased in population, 
and so straitened were the people for house-room, that it 
was impossible to find a home for my family, either as 
housekeeper or boarder. In this extremity, Mrs. Nicholas 
proposed that we should reside with her, free of charge, 
until some arrangement could be made for our accommoda- 
tion at Scottsville. We accepted her kind offer for a few 
weeks. 

But Peyton Harrison, Esq., then a ruling elder in the 
Scottsville Church, now the Rev. Dr. Peyton Harrison, of 
Baltimore, determined to build a parsonage at his own 
charges, and, meantime, procured boarding for us in the 
family of Mr. Edward Tompkins, who lived about four miles 
from Scottsville. 

With this very kind family we boarded through the sum- 
mer and into the autumn of 1832. During the following 
winter we boarded with Mr. Peter White, a ruling elder in 
Scottsville, and an uncommonly good man. In the spring 
of 1833 we took possession of the plain, but neat house 
built for us by Mr. Harrison. 

During the following summer we were visited by the Rev. 
Daniel Baker, whose preaching was owned and blessed of 
God to the increase of the church. Now, for the first time 
in a ministry of six years, it was my privilege to enjoy a 
general and genuine revival of religion. Now, for the first 
time, I had to guide about thirty anxious inquirers all at 
once. This was new and difficult, but delightful, work. 
About twenty-five were added to the church, including some 
of the most prominent persons of the village and surround- 
ing country. They ran well, and added much to the strength 
of the church. One of the fruits of this revival was the 
bringing of Mr. Peyton Harrison into the ministry. He 
was a ruling elder and a lawyer. He had thought of the 
ministry before, but the obstacles seemed insurmountable. 



The American Tract Society. 93 

He had a family, a large landed estate, and many servants. 
The difficulty of deciding what disposition to make of these 
had hitherto held him back. But the active effort and 
prayer, called forth by this revival, so increased his own 
faith and so inflamed his own zeal that he hesitated no 
longer. 

Mrs. Harrison cheerfully consented to take her children 
and go with him to the seminary. His brother, Carter H. 
Harrison, readily consented to purchase his entire estate — 
land, stock, farming implements, and servants — on his own 
terms. In this way the servants were not disturbed in their 
domestic relations. Thus Providence opened up the way ; 
he entered it, and in due time became a minister of the 
gospel. Two valuable additions were made to the session 
as other fruits of this revival. 

My ministry now became very pleasant ; but within a year 
from # that time it ended, and, at what seemed like a call of 
Providence, we left our pleasant home for a widely different 
field of labor. This happened thus: Up to this time the 
American Tract Society had published only unbound tracts. 
Several leading ministers in Petersburg and Richmond had 
resolved to seek, through the Virginia Tract Society, the en- 
largement of the parent society's plans. The result was that 
a number of the best books on practical theology were pub- 
lished, and a scheme inaugurated, technically termed " The 
volume enterprise of the Virginia Tract Society," and I was 
chosen to take in hand the prosecution of the scheme as the 
general agent for the State of Virginia. 

It was extremely difficult to decide what was my duty. I 
had been pastor at Scottsville only two years. God had 
graciously granted us an outpouring of his Spirit, which had 
revived and strengthened the church. I was yet a young 
man, scarcely beyond the infancy of my ministry. The 
church warmly and unanimously opposed the resignation of 
my pastoral charge. Still, the arguments employed by 



94 Semi-secular Work. 

those who sought my services, with what then seemed the 
will of God, determined me to yield to the proposal, and 
enter upon this very new and untried field. This, with the 
reluctant consent of the church and Presbytery, I did. We 
had now four children. 

It has been, for a long time, clear to my mind that I seri- 
ously mistook my duty in taking such a family from their 
home, exchanging such a pastoral charge for any migratory 
agency whatsoever. Of this I became fully convinced before 
the second year of my agency was half expired; and at the 
end of the second year, in the spring of 1836, I joyfully re- 
signed. Still, my most judicious and candid friends ex- 
pressed the opinion that God had enabled me to accomplish 
a great and good work. 

True, I became something of a traveller; made a great 
many off-hand speeches; preached a few sermons a great 
many times; explored almost every part of Virginia, and 
many parts many times. I went beyond the limits of Vir- 
ginia; attended "the anniversaries" in New York and in 
Boston ; made quite a number of the sort of speeches com- 
mon and popular in that day, especially in that Northern 
region ; touched for a night and day at New Haven ; about 
as long at Hartford and Providence, R. I. I put an immense 
number of books in circulation, the solid and excellent 
" bound volumes of the Tract Society." 

But then there were scores of excellent laymen in the church 
who could have done all that I did, save the preaching of a 
few thread-bare sermons, even better than I did. They 
could have travelled more easily, more expeditiously, and 
less expensively. They could have excelled me in making 
the sort of speeches I made, and, as to the filling and send- 
ing abroad boxes of books, they could have surpassed me 
greatly. 

But, above all, Presbytery did not license and ordain me 
to do this sort of semi-secular work, but to gather together 



Semi-secular "Work. 95 

the lost sheep of the house of Israel by the oral preaching 
of the gospel, and by faithful pastoral visitation from house 
to house. And then, God had blessed me in making me a 
husband and a father, thus placing me at the head of an- 
other institution as really of divine appointment as is the 
church itself. This, of course, I almost wholly neglected, 
at least so far as their religious instruction and training 
■were concerned; and, but for the fidelity and skill of the 
mother of those four children, they would probably have 
suffered irreparable injury through my neglect. 

If a man enters the ministry, as I fear many do, through 
mistake as to his adaptedness to the work, and, hence, 
after proper exertions faithfully made, fails to secure a use- 
ful position in a pastoral charge, then he must do the next 
best thing he can. In other words, if on full experiment, 
he fails to meet the just demands of the church in the pas- 
toral work, yet can preach a tolerable sermon as stated sup- 
ply of some feeble church and has aptness to teach a classical 
school, why let him serve God as stated supply and school- 
master. If another, with similar disqualifications as to the 
pastoral work, can commit to memory the story of some 
benevolent association ; can tell that story fluently ; is fond 
of a migratory life; possesses some ease of manner, which 
much intercourse with all sorts of people, blended with 
some impudence, will give him; has a wife well fitted for 
the duties of a mother, and is himself good for nothing as a 
father, why let him become an agent. 

And yet the best of pastors may, in certain emergencies, 
and for the immediate furtherance of some great cause, get 
leave of absence from his church for a short time to set in 
motion or urge forward this cause ; or, when incapacitated 
by age or some infirmity unfitting him for the full work of 
the ministry, he may turn teacher, or farmer, or even agent, 
by and with the consent of his pastoral charge and Presby- 
tery. Presidencies and professorships of colleges can be 



96 Semi- secular Work. 

undertaken with propriety by ordained ministers of the gos- 
pel only under similar limitations 

The extent to which, especially in the North, the ministry 
of the gospel is "tacked on" to some presidency or profes- 
sorship, merely to add dignity and sacredness to a far in- 
ferior calling, has had a deplorable tendency to elevate the 
inferior at the expense of the superior profession. It has 
greatly helped to secularize and degrade, and even to cor- 
rupt the ministry, until, in many, very many cases, the 
preachers in the United States have become the wildest and 
most narrow-minded politicians and agitators in all the land. 

So much I have deemed it proper to say of my two years' 
agency, chiefly for my two sons who are now, and for my 
grandsons who may become, ministers. 

[Dr. "White has left a diary of his experience while on this 
agency. It abounds in entertaining incidents, and would 
be published in this memoir but for fear of making the book 
too large.] 



CHAPTER VIII 

1836-1838. 

His Field in and about Charlottesville. — Abandons South Plains 
and Bethel. — Rev. Joseph F. Baxter Called to them. — Confines 
his Work to Charlottesville. — Opens a School for Young 
Ladies. — The School a Nursery to the Church. — Declines En- 
tertaining a Call to a Valley Church. 

" This is not a world of finalities of any kind ; 
But one of broken arcs, and not of perfect rounds." 

THE church at Charlottesville, Va., made vacant by the 
resignation and removal to Georgia of the Rev. Francis 
Bowman, invited me to become their pastor. This church 
had been united, under Mr. Bowman, with that of Bethel, 
and now united in their call to me. There was a third 
place of worship embraced in the limits, called South Plains. 
These three houses of worship, with their intervening lines, 
formed almost an equilateral triangle, whoso lines were from 
six to eight miles long. Mr. Bowman had resided first in 
the bounds of Bethel, where his labors had been much 
blessed. A religious awakening had occurred at an early 
period of his ministry, and there sprang up a small but vig- 
orous country church. His success at South Plains had been 
encouraging also. But certain influences in, and especially 
around, Charlottesville had greatly retarded and counter- 
acted his work at that place. Still a few noble spirits were 
found there, who, though defrauded of their interest in a 
house of worship which they had unwisely built in connec- 
tion with another denomination, relinquished their right in 
that church, and forthwith built another of their own. 

Mr. Bowman's ill health, which at length compelled him 
to seek a more southern clime, had, for a long time, seri- 
7 97 



98 Field in and about Charlottesville. 

ously interrupted his labors, and the little churches suffered 
on this account. When, in the early spring of 1836, 1 visited 
them with a view to a more full and satisfactory considera- 
tion of their call, the field, especially at Charlottesville, ex- 
hibited so unpromising an appearance that I was exceed- 
ingly reluctant to undertake it. The Rev. George A. Bax- 
ter, D. D., who had succeeded my honored preceptor, Rev. 
Dr. John H. Rice, as professor of theology in Union Semi- 
nary, Virginia, urged me to accept, and presented considera- 
tions which, with God's guidance I trust, prevailed with me 
to do so. 

Accordingly, on the 17th of May, 1836, I commenced my 
work. The arrangement for the first year was the follow- 
ing : I preached on one Sabbath in the month at Charlottes- 
ville, one at South Plains, and two at Bethel. I met with 
warm and generous friends in the church, but outsiders 
were distant and cold. Altogether the prospect was very 
dreary, and at Charlottesville it became more and more so 
as the year rolled by. It could hardly be otherwise. The 
Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist and Campbellite churches all 
had the start of the Presbyterian. They made good use of 
the advantage thus secured. Most or all of these had ser- 
vice every Sabbath, and I but one Sabbath in the month. 
On many a fair and lovely day I preached t ) twenty, or at 
most to thirty people. As to service in the week, and es- 
pecially at night, that was a thing unknown. (See the Life 
of Sampson, by Dr. Dabney, pp. 18, 19.) 

At the end of the first year I succeeded in prevailing on 
the South Plains people, among whom were some of my 
most generous friends and supporters, to relinquish their 
claim on me for Sabbath services, and to consent to take a 
Saturday service once in two weeks. Then I spent tw T o Sab- 
baths in Charlottesville, two at Bethel, two Saturdays a 
month at South Plains, and two Thursdays a month at 
Mount Tabor, a vacant church some twelve miles west of 
Charlottesville. 



Rev. Joseph Baxter. 99 

These scattered labors extended my acquaintance among 
the people, and friends outside the church began to gather 
around me. But still I clearly saw that we must have wor- 
ship every Sabbath in Charlottesville, or next to nothing 
could be done. But how could this be done? The two 
churches to which I ministered on the Sabbath paid for my 
support $350 each, and thought and said they could pay 
more. I had now five children, and three of these were at 
school. My expenses were increasing rapidly, and my salary 
was stationary. From the time I became a father I resolved 
on two things : First, that I would never attempt to make a 
fortune for my children; second, that I would spare no ex- 
pense of time, effort or money to give them a good educa- 
tion. But how was this to be done? Only in one way, and 
that I brought about thus : 

About the time my second year ended, in the spring of 
1838, my venerable friend, Dr. George A. Baxter, wrote to 
me that his son, Joseph, expected to be licensed at the ap- 
proaching meeting of Presbytery, and that if I could find a 
field of labor for him somewhere in my neighborhood, he 
would be gratified. I at once concluded to ask the Bethel 
and South Plains churches to release me from my obliga- 
tion to preach to them, and unite in calling young Baxter 
into their service. 

To this they at first objected strongly. Bethel pleaded 
that they had as many members, and could give as much as 
Charlottesville and South Plains together; that they had 
first moved to call me there; that but for them I would 
never have come; that they would purchase a parsonage, 
and settle me permanently among themselves. 

To this I replied that, feeble as the church in Charlottes- 
ville is, nevertheless it is the county-seat, and as such is the 
heart of the county; excellent schools are there; and there 
especially is the University of Virginia. I must educate my 
children, and however generous you may be, you cannot 



100 South Plains and Bethel Abandoned. 

afford to them the advantages of those schools at this dis- 
tance; but living there I may hope to give them those ad- 
vantages. 

Their reply to all this was : There are only about twenty 
members of that church, and they give you only $350, and 
we doubt whether they will ever give you more. You cannot 
accomplish your purpose on means so limited. 

My answer was : I can easily attend to so small and com- 
pact a church and teach a female school; and as they give 
me less than half a support, I shall feel bound to serve 
them only the half of my time; the other half I can give 
to a school conducted on thoroughly Christian privileges. 

At length they yielded. The union between Bethel and 
South Plains was formed. Mr. Joseph F. Baxter was called 
to be their pastor, and duly installed as such. 

Now I started afresh, with a church of less than twenty 
members, a congregation of fifty hearers, on a salary of 
$350, and this in the eleventh year of my ministry. This 
seemed like receding, instead of advancing. 

The little church increased my salary to $500, five gentle- 
men giving me their joint bond for this amount. This 
amount was duly paid. 

I had now been preaching eleven years, and was just 
eleven hundred dollars poorer that when I commenced. As 
far as I was known at all in the church, I was known to be 
a strenuous advocate for ministers giving themselves wholly 
to the work of the ministry. Up to this time I had never 
added one dollar to my income by any secular calling. I 
had also said much and written something in opposition to 
ministers serving their churches for less than an adequate 
support. Now I was about to do what seemed to militate 
against all this. But I viewed the case thus : 

I considered Charlottesville (as wiser men than I did) as 
one of the most important positions in the State. I had 
been brought there much against my own wishes, and ob- 



Establishes a Female School, . 101 

viously by the leadings of Providence. I enjoyed, to an ex- 
tent far beyond my merits, not only the confidence and love 
of the little church, but also of a constantly widening circle 
not belonging to tne church. I was convinced that, if I 
left, no one whom the people would approve would be will- 
ing to go there. Such a salary as they could give would 
not command the services of such a man as they ought to 
have. 

After I had gone there, and before I had accepted their 
call, having only promised to stay for a short time, I was 
assured by a committee of the session of one of the largest 
and best churches in the Valley of Virginia, that the church 
would give me a call if only I would say that I had declined 
the call to Charlottesville. This committee visited me to 
press the subject. Had I encouraged them I would have 
furnished the church and the world with another instance, 
already too common, of consulting my ease and reputation 
rather than my duty. I accordingly determined, while this 
committee were with me, to remain in Charlottesville, and 
told them so. 

As to the other point — the secular school teaching — I have 
this to say: So small a church, and one so compact, could 
not demand more than half my time, leaving the other half 
to be employed in any way which might promise to promote 
directly the proper work of the ministry. The school would 
call before me, and bring directly under my influence every 
day, a large number of the girls of my own congregation 
and of others ; for, while the school was to be strictly Chris- 
tian, it would not be sectarian. A school might be made, 
without offence to any right-minded men, an every day con- 
gregation, to which the gospel might be fully dispensed, 
omitting a few points about which the true people of God 
differ. Accordingly, it was commenced on these principles. 
All denominations patronized it. The Scriptures were dili- 
gently studied, and the Cod of the Scriptures worshipped. 



102 The School a Nursery to the Church. 

[Dr. White felt his responsibility for the conversion and 
growth in grace of every pupil in his school, as he did for 
every member of his congregation. He was not content 
with setting them a godly example, but made direct and af- 
fectionately earnest appeals to them individually on the sub- 
ject of personal salvation. As they were usually reticent, 
and had difficulty in expressing their feelings orally, he en- 
couraged them to write him letters asking questions about 
religion, and stating all their feelings on the subject. Many 
of these letters are now in our possession, carefully preserved 
by Dr. White throughout his life. His interest in his 
scholars lasted while he lived. 

Is it any wonder that a large boarding-school, conducted 
in this way, should be visited with revival after revival, and 
that the scholars under his care, should imbibe religious 
principles that would mould their character and shar>e their 
life forever?] 

This, to a great extent, was the discipline of the school. 
I soon became satisfied that I was as legitimately, and even 
more successfully, employed in the work of the ministry than 
I had ever been. Ministers of the gospel who aided me in 
my sacramental meetings would frequently go to the acad- 
emy on Monday morning to join in the devotional exercises 
held at the opening of the school. They often said, when 
these services ended, "Why, this has been the best and most 
promising meeting we have yet had." 

The Rev. Dr. Arch. Alexander spent several days with me 
during his last visit to Virginia. He was present more than, 
once, addressed the school, spent an hour or two in walking 
through the rooms, and at the close of his visit said: "If 
you should be called to another pastoral charge, your chief 
difficulty would be in parting with this school. It is a power- 
ful handmaid to your ministry." 

The school was commenced with twelve pupils, in a small 
and inconvenient building. I was old-fashioned enough in 



The School Flourishes. 103 

my views to think that the true plan was to begin with a 
few scholars, and so teach and govern them as to gain the 
confidence of the public, and make the impression that a 
larger and better building was needed, and also to have 
such able and ample instruction provided that the public 
might see there was to be no lack of teaching of the best 
sort. A consequence of this was that, as the school did not 
exceed, during the first term, thirty pupils, I paid more for 
assistants than the whole income amounted to. In this way 
I lost, the first year, about $200. 

Another purpose was that, as I was fully determined this 
school should not hinder but help my ministry, I would have 
competent teachers in sufficient numbers to carry it on in my 
absence about as well as when I was present. Thus, I was 
enabled to attend protracted meetings in other congrega- 
tions, meetings of Presbytery and Synod and of the directors 
of Union Theological Seminary, as regularly as if I had had 
no school. This detracted greatly from my pecuniary profits ; 
but to this I cheerfully consented. 

The house in which I commenced became too small. The 
people all saw and felt this. My purpose was accomplished. 
We must have a larger building; the size of the school de- 
manded it. The requisite funds were soon raised, a lot and 
plan agreed upon, and a suitable building erected. The 
school grew steadily until it reached nearly an hundred 
pupils. I had charge of it just ten years. The average, 
during these years, was seventy pupils, thirty-five of whom 
were boarders. 

God was pleased to own and bless this school greatly. A 
gratifying religious interest continued almost without inter- 
ruption during the ten years. Many were truly converted 
to God, and have made bright ornaments in the church of 
Christ. An account of my method of conducting religious 
awakenings in this school may be found in a small work, en- 
titled The Gospel Ministry, composed of letters to two of 
my sons. This need not be repeated here. 



104 His Work Blest. 

I had therefore no trouble with conscience, either for 
taking less than an adequate support from the little church, 
nor for supplementing my salary by founding this school. 

To the church I preached twice every Sabbath, and held 
one stated meeting during the week. I did fully as much 
pastoral visitation as I honestly thought was profitable to 
them, and found my labors among those people pleasant and 
useful. We enjoyed two or three seasons of revival, and a 
goodly number of valuable members were added to the 
church. Meantime, I secured the means of furnishing my 
children with the best literary advantages which that highly 
favored place afforded. My two oldest sons graduated at 
the University of Virginia, and my oldest daughter com- 
pleted the entire course of my own seminary. The three 
younger children had all made a very favorable beginning 
with their education when I removed to another field. 



CHAPTEK IX. 

1836-1848. 

University of Virginia, — Mb. Jefferson sees his Mistake. — Popular 
Demand for Religious Instruction. — Denominational Rotation 
in the Chaplaincy. — Himself Chaplain in 1840. — Health Breaks 
Down. — Prof. Davis Shot by a Student. — His Death. — Funeral. 
— Note on the Sermon by Ret. Dr. Dabney. — New Era in the Re- 
ligious History of the Uniyersity. — Anecdote about Dr. Speece. 
— Chaplain a Second Time (1814). — Rev. D. B. Ewing Secured 
as Assistant. — Health Fails Again. — The "Aliquis Contro- 
versy." — List of his Publications. — Gov. T. W. Gilmer— His 
Tragical Death. — Funeral — Illustrative Incident. — A Cause 
of the Prevailing Deism in Virginia — Prof. W. H. McGuffey 
—Opposition to Him because a Minister of the Gospel. — An- 
ecdote. — Review of Dr. Cooper's "Life of Priestly, "by Dr. 
Jno. H. Rice. — Dr. White's Impress on Charlottesville and 
Albemarle County, by a Member of the Methodist Church. 

" A healthy and well-toned spiritual life 
Is with him the furthest removed from asceticism." 

THE University of Virginia was opened in 1824. Mr. Jef- 
ferson brought over from Europe professors of some 
literary distinction, but of loose religious principles. In 
the beginning they allowed no form of religious worship 
within the precincts of the University. The discipline was 
extremely defective The confidence reposed in it, and the 
patronage extended to it, were almost wholly confined to a 
limited portion of the people. They chiefly belonged to the 
deistical aristocracy of Virginia, a party then, I am sorry to 
say, large and influential. But the whole thing worked so 
badly that, in less than two years after it opened, Mr. 
Jefferson had to revise the whole system of discipline, and 

105 



106 The University of Virginia. 

propose to the Board of Visitors, which met about the time 
of his death, in 1826, a very* unexceptionable system -of 
by-laws. He also proposed that each denomination of Chris- 
tians should be invited to establish a professorship of theol- 
ogy in connection with the University. He did not live to 
carry this measure through, and it failed. 

But not many years after his death — three, I think — the 
necessity for some religious influence became so great, and 
the demand for it from Christian people of every denomina- 
tion so clamorous, that the faculty and students were autho- 
rized to elect a chaplain. The plan agreed upon was to se- 
lect one from each of the prevailing denominations — the 
Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians — ■ 
who should serve one year each in rotation. For two or 
three years this plan worked indifferently ; but at length it 
got into successful operation. One of the medical profes- 
sors, Dr. Magill, and the professor of law, Mr. Davis, be- 
came earnest and active Christian men. The former was a 
Presbyterian, and the latter an Episcopalian. This was 
soon followed by the conversion of Dr. Harrison, Professor 
of Ancient Languages. He became a Methodist. A great 
change began to appear at once. They succeeded in get- 
ting, about the year 1834, a talented and efficient chaplain. 
He was followed by others, for several years, from other 
branches of the church, like minded with himself. There 
began to appear, among the students, young men of decided 
Christian character. Most of the English professors left. 
The Board of Visitors adopted the wise policy of selecting 
young Virginians of promise, and by degrees the religious 
element in the faculty became strong. The confidence of 
the public generally was gradually secured, and the number 
of students increased. 

In the summer of 1840, when my academy had been in 
operation two years, it was again the turn of the Presbyte- 
rian Church to furnish a chaplain. I was greatly surprised 



Elected Chaplain. 107 

to receive, from the faculty and students, the offer of this 
position. It seemed impossible for me to add to my pastoral 
charge and the superintendence of the academy this office. 
But as the two former were permanent and the chaplaincy 
temporary — extending only through a single session — I could 
not think of resigning either of those for the sake of this; 
and to assume the labor and responsibility of all three seemed 
unwise, and even foolish. But my congregation favored, and 
I accepted it. Now came an amount of labor that had well- 
nijh put an end to my life. I preach 3d every Sabbath 
morning at the University and every Sabbath afternoon in 
town. I held a lecture one evening in the week at each 
place ; " taught in the academy laboriously six hours on each 
of five days in the week ; and as the New and Old School con- 
troversy was then in full blast, I carried on an extensive 
correspondence, and wrote a good deal for the press. To 
accomplish this, I slept but little, and took very little exer- 
cise. Near the end of this session my health failed. I was 
compelled, as soon as the University term expired, to sus- 
pend labor of every sort. Tw 7 o months' rest nearly re- 
stored my health, and I resumed my work in my church 
and school. 

On the 12th of November, 1840, about two months after 
my service as chaplain to the University commenced, the 
excellent Professor Davis w 7 as shot by a turbulent student. 
On Friday night of that date, Professor Davis was inter- 
rupted at his family worship by the firing of pistols on the 
lawn, just in front of his residence. When the worship was 
ended, he stepped out to see the occasion of the disturbance, 
and near his front door discovered a student, masked and 
otherwise disguised, with a pistol in his hand. On advanc- 
ing to apprehend him, the student fired, and he fell. He 
survived until Saturday afternoon, when, at five o'clock, he 
expired. I was with him in his last moments, heard his 
last words, and saw him draw his last breath. With great 



108 Murder or Professor Davis. 

clearness he reaffirmed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as 
the only ground of his hope of salvation, then gave his dying 
blessing to his two eldest sons, both of whom were kneeling 
at the side of his bed. He requested me to lead in prayer ; 
then asked, "Where are my colleagues?" So many as could 
be collected were soon present. He evidently desired to 
speak to them at some length, but the powers of nature were 
too far exhausted. He could say but little, and that little 
was in broken sentences. Taking one of them by the hand, 
he said, "Through Christ — die happy — you all too" 

All were in tears. Dr. Harrison, whose hand he held, 
said, "Do you mean that through the Lord Jesus Christ 
you now die happy, and through him we may all die in the 
same way?" 

"Yes, yes; that is my meaning; so may it be." He spoke 
no more, and in a few moments he slept quietly in Jesus. 

The impression made by the cause and manner of this 
death cannot be described. Intellectually, socially, and re- 
ligiously, Professor Davis was one of the first men of his age 
and country. He had been one of a committee of three who 
had edited and published The TJfe and Correspondence of 
TJiomas Jefferson. At that time he sympathized with the 
well known deistical sentiments of the great statesman. He 
had even favored, in opposition to the opinion of one of the 
committee, the insertion of those letters, and especially the 
one to John Adams, that gave such offence to the whole 
Christian church. But soon after this, a sermon by the 
Rev. Daniel Baker, D. D., on popular objections to Christi- 
anity, arrested his attention, and led ultimately to the utter 
renunciation of his former creed, and to as cordial a recep- 
tion of the gospel. In a word, he became a thoroughly con- 
verted man, a member of the Episcopal Church, and to the 
hour of his death illustrated his faith by a lovely and useful 
Christian life. Although he belonged to a different branch 
of the church from my own, when I became chaplain his 



Professor Davis 5 Funeral. 109 

abounding kindness to me could not have been surpassed 
had I been a minister of his own denomination. 

His was the first house of a professor iu the University of 
Virginia ever opened for a. social prayer-meeting. The ex- 
cellent Dr. Magill had died just before I was chosen chap- 
lain, and hence there was no professor belonging to my own 
church there. But Professor Davis' warm piety and en- 
lightened liberality made amends for this. In my many 
visits to his delightful family, and in my free and frequent 
interviews with him on religious subjects, it rarely occurred 
to me that he belonged to one branch of the church and I 
to another. 

On the Monday succeeding his death, his funeral was held 
in the rotunda of the University. It devolved upon me to 
preach on the occasion ; and it was such an occasion as rarely 
occurs in this world. The crowd was immense, and the grief 
almost uncontrollable. Not only children and ladies, but the 
sternest men, from the learned professor to the humblest 
peasant, were bathed in tears from the commencement to 
the close of the service. 

The Eev. Dr. R. L. Dabney has a note on this funeral, 
which will be read with interest : 

"The startling occasion, the unique nature of the calamity, 
the distinction of the victim, and the place, all conspired to 
excite the people to an intense pitch. The notice allowed 
the chaplain for the preparation of a discourse was brief. 
He felt much embarrassed about a suitable topic. He had 
concluded to take up the doctrine of the divine providence, 
and endeavor to improve the occasion, to enforce it argumen- 
tatively, and he was experiencing that inexpressible embar- 
rassment and pain which the literary man knows so sadly, 
when he forces himself to a line of thought out of harmony 
with the instincts of his soul. When almost in a state of 
desperation about his composition, he received a visit from 
Professor P. Powers (now a clergyman of the Episcopal 



110 The University's Great Loss. 

Church, then principal of a classical seminary in Charlottes- 
ville), who asked him what subject he had adopted. When 
Dr. White told him he said, 'Now, that is all wrong; the 
people are feeling intensely, and will be in no mood for ab- 
stract discussion. There is a providence, as you and I know, 
and such dispensations of his plans as this are themselves 
the only demonstration needed. Let me advise you to change 
your plan; take a simpler view of truth, and merely aim to 
give expression to the emotions which now flood every mind.' 
Dr. Wliite at once acceded to this advice. He threw his in- 
cipient preparation away, and adopted a text which sug- 
gested the contrast between the blessedness of the righteous 
in the extreme hour and the misery of sin. The result was 
one of the happiest efforts of his life. He spoke in a strain of 
noble, evangelical eloquence, with inimitable pathos, which 
swayed all hearts, ' as the trees of the forest are bent by the 
wind.' The learned and cultivated professors were as com- 
pletely borne away by his unction as the impulsive youth. 
The whole audience was bathed in tears. The angry excite- 
ment and fierce tension of the public mind were replaced by 
Christian sympathy and tenderness." 

The University had lost, by the hand of violence, one of 
its brightest ornaments, the poor one of their most generous 
benefactors, and the church of Christ one of its firmest 
pillars. 

One of the last petitions he uttered, as he died, was, 
"God bless my family." There were seven children, four 
sons and three daughters. The eldest was about seventeen 
years, and the youngest about six months old. God's bless- 
ing has rested upon them in a most remarkable degree. Two 
of the sons became ministers of the gospel in the Episcopal 
Church, and all the children consistent and useful members 
of the same. 

The life and death of Professor Dayis mark a new era in 
the religious history of the University. Soon after, Profes- 



"Wickedness of Chaklottesville. Ill 

-sor and Mrs. Cabell became earnest Christians. The at- 
tendance on divine worship became larger and more solemn, 
and during the term several students professed faith in 
Christ. A Sabbath-school, composed chiefly of the children 
of the professors and the hotel keepers, and a Bible-class, 
composed of students, were well sustained; and the religi- 
ous influence diffused through the institution became strong 
and controlling. This went on to increase from year to year, 
until parents throughout the country were brought to see 
that the moral and religious character of their sons was as 
safe there as anywhere. 

The village and neighborhood of Charlottesville had, al- 
most from time immemorial, been, not only as irreligious, 
but as anti-religious as any community in the State, As 
late as 1824, or near that time, there was not a house of 
worship in the village or its immediate vicinity. The num- 
ber of professing Christians was very small. Dissipation of 
a certain genteel sort was very common. Deistical senti- 
ments were widely diffused and unblushingly avowed. Dr. 
Conrad Speece, in passing through the town about the year 
1818, attempted to preach one night in the courthouse, but 
well-nigh failed because of the insufficient light and the 
rudeness of the boys. He spent the night at the hotel, and 
such were the sentiments uttered in his hearing by promi- 
nent gentlemen, and such the ill conduct of the young men 
frequenting the tavern, that he said, in the house of a friend 
the next day, "When Satan promised all the kingdoms of 
the world to Christ, he laid his thumb on Charlottesville, 
and whispered, ' Except this place, which I reserve for my own 
special use.' " 

Early in the year 18S6, about the time I went there, the 
Kev. Kichard K. Meade, son of the excellent Bishop Wm. 
Meade, took charge of the Episcopal Church ; the Bev. Mr. 
Poindexter, a man of ^decided talent and undoubted piety, 
became pastor of the Baptist Church ; the Methodists erected 



112 Re-appointed Chaplain of the Univebsity. 

a neat and commodious house of worship, and had for their 
first stationed minister the Eev. Mr. Riddick, an excellent 
and able man. The Spirit of Christ dwelt in these servants 
of our Lord, and the work of reformation went forward, not 
rapidly, but steadily aid efficiently. All these churches 
grew so that, within thirty years from the time of Dr. 
Speece's visit — that is to say, in 184S — the Christian religion, 
as held by these four denominations, was as widoly diffused 
and exerted as controlling an influence in and around Char- 
lottesville as in any part of the country with which I was 
acquainted. There were not more than two or three gen- 
tlemen who did not habitually attend some place of worship, 
and who did not consider themselves identified with some 
congregation. Even such as were not communicants at- 
tended church regularly, and sustained the ministry of the 
gospel liberally. 

In 1844 I was again appointed chaplain of the University 
of Virginia. Fearing to attempt what I had undertaken 
before, with the cordial consent of my church and Presby- 
tery, I engaged the services of Rev, Daniel B. Ewing, then 
just licensed as a probationer for the gospel ministry, to 
take temporary charge of the church, while I confined my- 
self to the academy and University. Notwithstanding the 
fact that this greatly lightened my labor, and proved to be 
both agreeable and useful to myself and the church, yet my 
health began to decline. In quick succession I had two at- 
tacks of illness which seriously threatened my life. My 
physicians began to fear that my constitution was under- 
mined, and to intimate that, if I persisted in being both 
pastor and teacher, I must soon die. But I secured the 
services of another assistant teacher, reduced my corres- 
pondence, and wrote less for the newspapers, went to bed 
earlier and rose later, and thus regained my health in part. 

I would remark, in passing, for the .sake of my children, 
that if they have any curiosity on the subject, and can get 



His Publications. 113 

access to the files of the Southern Religious Telegraph from 
1834 to 1837, they will find, over the signature of "Ob- 
server," articles having more or less reference to what was 
then widely known as the " Aliquis Controversy," and some- 
times occasional articles over one or more of my initials, on 
subjects not now remembered. In the files of The Watch- 
man of the /South, from 1837 to 1848, they will find a series 
of articles on the sin of gambling, another on the evils of 
promiscuous dancing, another on the life and character of 
Uncle Jack, the African preacher, another on "so preaching 
that many may believe," signed "Iota." They will also find 
quite a number of biographical sketches of friends recently 
dead, besides many obituaries. Of the biographical sketches, 
the most extended they will find about the close of 1844, con- 
sisting of nine articles on "The Social and Eeligious Char- 
acter of Governor Thomas W. Gilmer, late Secretary of the 
Navy." 

This reference is made chiefly because scarcely any of 
these articles are now in my possession, either in manuscript 
or in print. They will also find scattered through these 
pages, usually over my initials, accounts of church meetings, 
revivals, and other religious news of local interest. I have 
published but two sermons — one on the evils of drunkenness, 
and another on the necessity of intelligence and piety to the 
perpetuity of republican government. These have long since 
perished. I did not think them worthy of preservation. In 
this the public seems to have agreed with me, although they 
were both published at the earnest solicitation and at the 
expense of the public. I also published " A Plea for Sympa- 
thy on the Part of the Church for her Ministers." A series 
of letters to "A Son in the Ministry/' and to "A Son out of 
the Seminary," published in The Central Presbyterian of a 
more recent date, have been published in a small volume. I 
have doubtless failed to remember many isolated fugitive 
pieces. But no matter, what is not worth remembering is. 
8 



114 Governor T. W. Gilmer. 

not worth knowing. Much the greater part of my life has 

been too much of an out-door life. I have spent too much 

of my time in the society of men, and too little in that of 

books, for success as a writer; but necessity seemed laid 

upon me. 

Governor T. W. Gilmer, 

' Returning from this digression, I would remark that, 
early in the same year, 1844, occurred a tragedy much like 
that of the death of Professor Davis. I refer to the death 
of the late Governor Thomas W. Gilmer. This gentleman 
was born and educated in Albemarle count}'. His ancestors 
and connections were among the most reputable in the State. 
Entering professional life prior to the opening of the Uni- 
versity of Virginia, his early literary advantages were not of 
the best sort. This defect, however, was supplied in part 
by the vigor of his intellect, the amiability of his temper, the 
attractions of a very engaging person, and the energy of un- 
wearied self-culture. It is sufficient here to say that he rose 
rapidly from the editorship of a small village newspaper to 
the profession of the law, to a seat in the Legislature of his 
State, to the speakership of that body, and to the office of 
Governor of the Commonwealth, before he was thirty-eight 
years old. When his services as Governor ended, he was 
chosen to a seat in Congress, and then to the Secretaryship 
of the Navy. Rarely, if ever, has so young a man reached a 
position of such influence and distinction. 

"Shortly after Mr. Polk became President, in consequence 
of the death of William Henry Harrison, the Oregon boun- 
dary dispute with England led to the development of a war 
spirit throughout this country, which, to some extent, was 
shared by members of Congress and executive officials at 
Washington. Two large guns were manufactured, called 
the * Oregon' and 'Peacemaker,' of which the military au- 
thorities were very proud, and swelling boasts were indulged 
in of the effects of which these weapons were capable if 



A Memorable Accident. 115 

called into actual service. On the 28th of February, 1844, 
at the invitation of Captain Stockton, a large company of 
officials and persons of distinction from Washington went 
on board the Princeton at Alexandria, it having been ar- 
ranged that a demonstration should be given of the power 
of the new guns, with which the vessel had been equipped. 
The party included the President of the United States, and 
the heads of the several departments, with their families. 
After the vessel had gone down the Potomac, past Fort 
"Washington, to a point where the river was wide enough to 
afford scope for the desired experiments, the gun, * Peace- 
maker/ was fired several times with entire satisfaction. A 
dinner was then given, at which many toasts were honored, 
the President proposing 'the Oregon,' 'the Peacemaker/ 
and ' Captain Stockton'; Miss Wickliffe, daughter of the Post- 
master-general, proposed ' the American flag, the only thing 
American that will bear stripes' which was received with 
great enthusiasm. A portion of the party returned to the 
deck, and it was agreed that one more shot should be fired 
from the 'Peacemaker.' The gun, however, on this occa- 
sion exploded with terrific force, the pieces flying among 
the adjacent spectators. Five of these were killed instantly, 
or so badly wounded that they soon expired: Judge Abel 
P. Upshur, Secretary of State ; Thomas W. Gilmer, Secre- 
tary of the Navy, previously Governor of Virginia; Com- 
modore Kennon, of the Navy; Virgil Maxcy, a diplomat: 
and Mr. Gardner, of New York. Seventeen seamen were 
wounded, several mortally. President Polk had but a few 
moments before been standing where Secretary Gilmer re- 
ceived his death-blow, but having gone aft was uninjured." 
— New York Observer, March 6, 1844. 

Governor Gilmer had held the office of Secretary of the 
Navy but two weeks when this accident happened. Mrs. 
Gilmer accompanied him on the excursion. He never 
breathed or spoke after the explosion of the gun; for his 



116 Governor Gilmer's Funeral. 

body was torn into two parts, barely held together by a 
small portion of flesh. His remains, attended by a large 
committee, who went on for them from Albemarle, and an- 
other from Washington, were brought for burial to Mount 
Air, his native place, fifteen miles south of Charlottesville. 
As his pastor I was requested to meet and bury the body at 
that place. I did so. His body, in a metallic coffin, with a 
glass exhibiting his head and breast, was placed in the pas- 
sage of the venerable homestead. 

The immense crowd that had assembled from the sur- 
rounding country was admitted, a few at a time, to this 
passage. Entering at the front door, they passed in silence, 
yet with many tears, pausing to gaze in mute sadness on the 
face, which was distinctly visible through the glass, and 
which, being wholly uninjured by the explosion and in a 
state of remarkable preservation, still seemed to be that of 
one in calm, sweet sleep. Having looked for a moment on 
the scene, they passed out through the back door, and others 
were admitted. The crowd was so immense that much time 
was spent in this ceremony. When all had looked, and wept 
that they should see his face no more, he was carried to the 
grave, and, with a few words and a prayer, laid to rest until 
the morning of the resurrection. 

On the following Sabbath a funeral service was held in the 
Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville. My text on the occa- 
sion was Psalm xcvii. 2: "Clouds and darkness are round 
about him; righteousness and judgment are the habitation of 
his throne." The crowd of attendants was immense. Every 
house of worship in the place, except the Presbyterian, was 
closed, and the ministers of the Methodist, Baptist and 
Episcopal churches sat in the pulpit with me. Each took a 
part in the devotional exercises of the morning. Notwith- 
standing it was the 10th of March, and the weather very 
wintry, the windows were all raised and the doors opened to 
give the crowd who could not enter an opportunity to hear. 



Governor Gilmer's Deep Piety. 117 

After filling the yard, they filled the streets in front and on 
the western side of the church. Not only did the ladies fill 
the house completely, bat many sat in their carriages and 
others stood through the -whole service in the yard. In the 
course of the sermon I read a letter to Mrs. Gilmer by her 
husband, written a few months before his death. During 
the reading of this letter the feelings of the immense audi- 
ence became uncontrollable, and very many wept aloud. 

Governor Gilmer was one of only five male members whom 
I found in the Charlottesville Church. He had then been a 
member of the church three or four years. He received me 
with great cordiality, and gave me the full benefit of his 
great influence. No minister ever enjoyed more delightful 
intercourse with a member of his church than I did with 
him. His social qualities were of the highest orcLr, and his 
piety unquestionable. 

An illustrative incident, not mentioned for prudential rea- 
sons in the sketches of his life I published, may be stated 
here. Just before he left home to assume the duties of 
Governor he had the misfortune to differ in opinion with a 
ruling elder of the church, a Christian gentleman of most 
exemplary character, and one with whom he had been on 
terms of great intimacy from his early youth. This differ- 
ence ended in such ill-feeling that they parted without 
speaking. Soon after reaching Richmond, he wrote to me 
thus: "I am neither a better nor happier man for the office 
to which I have been promoted. Much of the unhappiness 
I feel results from the alienation which has arisen between 
R and myself. Cannot you adjust this difficulty?" 

Before I had time to do anything in the matter, he came 

to C . He arrived on Saturday night before a communion 

Sabbath. I did not know he had come until I took my seat 
in the pulpit and saw him in the congregation. I at once re- 
membered the unfriendly relations between him and the 
elder just about to assist in celebrating the Lord's Supper. 



118 Anecdote about Governor Gilmer. 

It was so painful that I at first thought of leaving the pulpit 
and requesting him not to commune; but this thought was 
soon dismissed. By prayer and supplication I left the issue 
to God. When I closed my sermon and called the commu- 
nicants to the seats assigned them, Mr. Gilmer arose, came 
forward, and took his seat on a bench nearest the pulpit and 
immediately fronting me and the table on which the elements 
were spread. He sat with his arms folded and his eyes closed, 
so that, when this elder with whom he had had trouble ap- 
proached him with the plate of sacramental bread, he had 
to touch him gently to attract his attention. The moment 
their eyes met across the plate, Governor Gilmer drew forth 
his right hand, and, passing it over the bread, seized that 
of the elder with the deepest emotion. The feelings of Mr. 
R so overcame him that he handed the plate to another. 

Occurring, as it did, in the face of the congregation, the 
impression was great and very happy. As I walked from 
church, falling in with him, I said, " Governor, I want to 

settle that difficulty between you and R ." He replied, 

"You are too late. It is all settled. The Lord settled it 
to-day." 

Like Professor Davis, he left a large, young and interest- 
ing family — a fond wife with four sons and four daughters, 
the eldest about eighteen years, and the youngest only a few 
months old. The infant died in a few months after its 
father. The rest lived to be grown. Two of the sons are 
ministers of the gospel in the Presbyterian Church. 

I think it was in the year 1844 that Professor George 
Tucker, who had filled the chair of Moral Philosophy in the 
University for twenty years, resigned. A successor was to 
be chosen. Notwithstanding the great and gratifying change 
that had taken place in this institution, and notwithstand- 
ing the popular mind of the State had become so much more 
favorable to Christianity, there still lingered one sentiment 
in both. The untold evils that had accrued both to true re- 



Professor W. H. McGuffet. 119 

ligion and sound morality from the dissolute lives of the 
English parsons prior to the first grea fc American E evolution, 
had created in the public mind many and strong prejudices 
against the whole clerical profession, and had intensified 
the just abhorrence almost universally felt for a church es- 
tablishment. 

These parsons were so strongly attached to such an es- 
tablishment and to a monarchical form of government that, 
on the breaking out of the Revolution of 1776, nearly all who 
could at once fled to England. Charity constrains me to 
ascribe much of the deism o< the educated classes in Vir- 
ginia of that day to this cause. And as these parsons, 
though destitute of true religion, and often very immoral 
men, were nevertheless well educated, from this arose the 
strong opx^osition to an educated ministry, which the Rev. 
Devereux Jarrett of the Episcopal and the founders of the 
Presbyterian Church had to encounter. Mr. Jarrett lived 
after the Revolution was over, and, I think, was the first 
member pf his church who commenced the work of giving a 
new and spiritual life to that communion, which efforts were 
subsequently so successfully seconded by the late Bishop 
Meade. 

Our efforts commenced some thirty-five ;-ears before the 
Revolution, and we had to contend with the opposition of 
the educated classes to an evangelical and those of the il- 
literate to an educated ministry. But into all this I should 
go no further. These remarks are made to account in part 
for what occurred at the University of Virginia in electing 
a successor to Mr. Tucker. 

Professor W. H. McGuffey. 

Mr. Dew, Professor of Moral Philosophy in "William and 

Mary College, was the candidate of one party, and the Rev. 

Wm. H. McGuffey, D. D., of Ohio, of the other. There 

were then seven visitors, only five of whom attended the 



120 Election of Peofessor McGuffey. 

meeting at which the election took place. Upon the nomi- 
nation of Dr. McGuffey, by the Hon. Wm. C. Hives, the 
question was at once asked, Is he not a minister of the gos- 
pel? On being told that he was, strong opposition was at 
once made to him on that ground. Thus far it had been 
thought altogether wrong to permit one of that hated class 
to hold a place in that seat of learning. It was conceded 
that chey were good enough in their place, but a university 
chair was not that place. For a long time the vote stood 
two for Dew and two for McGuffey. The presiding officer 
hesitated anxiously as to the casting vote. Finally he gave 
it for McGuffey, and he was accordingly declared elected. 
Now arose a considerable amount of clamor on the part of 
the old party who had been defeated. One of them, a man 
of consideration, said to me, "Have not you Christian peo- 
ple gained enough in getting a religious man into that 
chair? Don't you see how mischievous it will be for this 
new professor to be known as a preacher? As he is to 
draw his salary from the State, the people, not l y but the 
people, will say that this is but the first step to a reunion of 
church and state." 

To which I replied as follows: "If Dr. McGuffey should 
prove neglectful of or incompetent to his duties as profes- 
sor, or if he should seek to disseminate his peculiar senti- 
ments as a Presbyterian, and to proselyte the young men to 
his distinctive faith as an officer in a State institution, his 
course would be censurable. But if he is both faithful and 
able, as I d.mbt not he will be, and if he claims the privi- 
lege of addressing the people who may be inclined to hear 
him on religious subjects, and that in a way not to offend 
any branch of the church, he should exercise the right to 
do so." I then asked, "Is your opposition to his preaching 
based on the fact that he is a Presbyterian?" "By no 
means," was the prompt and emphatic reply. "It would 
be the same were he a Methodist, Baptist, or Episcopalian." 



Opposition to Professor McGuffey. 121 

""Very well," I said, ' ; make war on Dr. McGuffey on such, 
grounds, and all the opposition hitherto made to the Univer- 
sity will be as a summer breeze to the tornado. Every 
church in the land will combine as one man against you; 
and no institution, however richly endowed, can resist such 
a combination. Did not your grandfather become sensible 
of this before he died ? Nay, did he not, with the Visitors, 
ascertain that they must secure the confidence of the Chris- 
tian people of the country, or make no headway! You have 
been accustomed to look at the public through one sort of a 
medium, and I through another and widely different one. 
You have studied men as a politician, and I as an humble, 
b>ut somewhat observant, preacher of the gospel. It is not 
surprising, therefore, that I should know rather more than 
you do of the extent to which the people of Virginia have 
become a Christian people." I then went briefly into a 
specification of fasts designed to confirm this statement. 
He listened with respectful attention, reaffirmed in a very 
earnest manner that he bad no objection to Dr. McGuffey's 
preaching, that he designed only to express his fears as to 
its influence on the public mind, but now hoped that these 
fears were groundless, and concluded by saying, with a 
smile, "Let me know when Dr. McGuffey is to preach for 
you, and I will come and hear him." This distinguished 
gentleman did become a warm friend and admirer of Dr. 
McGuffey, both as a professor and a preacher, from that 
time. 

The clamor subsided, and the University, with the town 
and surrounding country, took a higher stand than ever be- 
fore, both in morals and religion. The University now 
made rapid strides in every qualification fitted to render a 
great institution of learning a great blessing both to the 
country and the church of Christ. In a few years the num- 
ber of her students ranged from five to six hundred, under 
a system of discipline which fully met every just demand, 



122 Discipline of Students. 

and fully answered every wise and good purpose. The op- 
position referred to grew out of a mistaken judgment as to 
the state of public sentiment throughout the country. The 
truth is, that Christianity, as held and taught by the Meth- 
odists, Baptists, Episcopalians and Presbyterians, had made 
such silent, but efficient progress, had so gradually, but suc- 
cessfully undermined the Tom-Paineism of a former gene- 
ration, that none but close and interested observers were 
aware of the extent to which this blessed work had been 
carried forward. 

It is curious to recall the incidents occurring during the 
transition state of the University to which I have referred, 
some of them apparently trivial, yet each having its place 
and contributing its effect to the general result. Take the 
following as one of many : 

The proposition was distinctly made and pressed, as this 
institution was about to be inaugurated, that there should 
be no definite system of discipline established, but that the 
students should be left to "their sense of honor" to make 
them studious and well-behaved. This senseless proposition 
was much discussed. On one occasion, a very plain, but 
sensible man, who had brought a load of potatoes to market, 
was a silent listener to one of these discussions held by some 
of the more intelligent and prominent citizens. Observing 
the fixed attention the countryman was giving to their conver- 
sation, they asked him what he thought of the question under 
consideration. He very promptly replied, "It seems very 
plain to me. For my part, I would as soon turn a parcel of 
hogs into my potato-patch, and trust to their sense of 
honor not to root, as I would bring a large number of boys 
together into one school, from all parts of the country, and 
trust to their sense of honor not to misbehave." 

This little incident, I think it probable, helped on the 
good cause quite as much as some of the arguments of the 
learned. 



Dr. Thomas Cooper. 123 

In looking back to the men and measures contributing to 
this important revolution, none seem more considerable 
than the Rev. Dr. John H. Eice and the magazine he pub- 
lished. 

Mr. Jefferson contemplated at first the establishment only 
of " the Central College." His success with the Legislature, 
however, was such that he felt warranted in enlarging his 
plans, until a great university was the result. This impor- 
tant movement arrested the attention and engaged the pen 
of Dr. Rice from the beginning. The Literary and Evan- 
gel leal Magazine, which he edited for many years, may be 
consulted for his sentiments on this subject. In the volumes 
from 1818 to 1824 the reader will find the proposed plans 
discussed. The course of instruction, the standard for ad- 
mission and graduation, the relations it should sustain to 
the colleges, and its religious character, are all discussed in 
these volumes. A most suggestive fact is, that, as early 
as 1820, the Visitors elected Dr. Thomas Cooper their 
first professor. This gentleman was of Philadelphia, had 
become distinguished in the natural sciences, but was per- 
haps as unscrupulous an enemy to evangelical Christianity 
as anywhere existed. He had published the Life of Dr. 
Joseph Priestly, in wmich he expresses his anti-religious 
sentiments with the utmost boldness. We repeat, this man, 
elected to this professorship several years before the Univer- 
sity went into operation, came on at least one year before, 
made his home at Monticello, and received one year's salary 
without delivering a lecture. 

As yet there were neither buildings nor students. Dr. 
Rice reviewed his Life of Priestly, and did it so ably and 
with such effect that, on the advice of Mr. Jefferson, he did 
not wait for the institution to open, but went on to South 
Carolina, where he was made President of their University, 
and where he remained long enough to smother the life out 



124 Views on the University System. 

of it. A near relative of Mr. Jefferson, and a frequent visi- 
tor at Monticello, told me that lie knew the great statesman 
read these articles of Dr. Rice, and especially his review of 
Cooper, and that it was under the influence of these writings 
he was dismissed. This w r as enough of itself to give a new 
form to the institution from the beginning. 

All Dr. Rice's views in reference to it prevailed except 
one. He expresses the fear that it may become the mere 
rival of the colleges; that, to use his own words, it may be 
made a great academy, to which any who please may go 
when they please, study what they please, and leave when 
they please. This I conceive to be almost, if not altogether, 
the only defect in the system to this day. It has been too 
much- — and is still so — a mere city of refuge for idle boys, 
who fail to pass regularly from class to class in college. 
Still, I maintain all I have previously said of its great worth 
in the cause of letters — an honor to its founders and a bless- 
ing to the w r orld. 

Dming my residence in Charlottesville there was always 
one or more classical and mathematical schools, admirably 
conducted and liberally supported. The teachers of these 
schools were usually graduates of the University. A num- 
ber of such schools were erected through the county of 
Albemarle, until it far exceeded any other county in the 
State in its literary advantages. 

The impression made by the life of Dr. White on the 
town of Charlottesville and county of Albemarle, and the 
secret of his great usefulness there, are w T ell stated in the 
following publication, copied from a newspaper which was 
owned and managed by one who belonged to the Methodist 
Church. It must inspire the breast of the reader with a 
noble impulse, to read such words of commendation from an 
impartial writer : 



Extract from the " Virginia. Advocate." 125 

"Kev. W. S. White. 
"It is with sincere regret we learn that this gentleman, so 
long the pastor of the Presbyterian church in this place, has 
accepted a call from the church in Lexington, and will leave 
us in a few weeks for his new home. We think we express 
a sentiment which is common, not only to this immediate 
community, but to the entire county, when we say that in 
parting with Mr. White, we are losing one of the most 
efficient friends and supporters of every good work, whose 
influence it has been the privilege of our county to enjoy. 
Of his zeal and fidelity as a Christian minister and pastor, 
it is not for us to speak. These are attested by the growth, 
and the peace and harmony of the church here, during his 
twelve years' connection with it ; and by the sorrow of its 
members in view of his removal from among them — a sorrow 
(we think we may in truth say) which is shared by every 
friend of religion among us, who has a heart to appreciate 
the principles of tolerance and universal benevolence., which 
have ever characterized the course of Mr. White, devoted, 
as he doubtless is, to the peculiar tenets of his own denomi- 
nation. But in other spheres his usefulness has been exem- 
plified in a clegree which has won for him the love, and 
entitle him to the gratitude of our entire county. Always 
among the first and foremost in every benevolent enterprise, 
his labors have been as untiring as they have been eminently 
judicious and free from the slightest taint of that fanati- 
cism which so frequently mars the efforts even of the well- 
meaning and sincere. But it is as Principal of the Female 
Academy, which he founded, and has raised to an eminence 
of usefulness unsurpassed by that of any similar institution, 
that the public, we believe, have been most indebted to Mr. 
White. With a heart full of affection for youth, and sensi- 
tively alive to the importance of their proper mental and 
moral culture, as connected with their own happiness and 



126 Extract from the "Virginia Advocate." 

the well-being of society, he has given himself to the work 
of education with a zeal and self-denial which nothing short 
of Christian benevolence could have sustained, and with a 
measure of success which could only have been secured by 
qualifications of the highest order. Nor has the influence 
of Mr. White in the cause of education been confined to the 
institution over which he has presided. All who, like our- 
selves, regard the University of Virginia as an honor and a 
blessing to our State and country will admit, we presume, 
that he is a public benefactor, who has contributed to make 
known the truth touching the character of that institution. 
Few men, in our opinion, have done more to accomplish 
this than Mr. White. Having, from his long residence in 
the immediate neighborhood, and his connection with the 
institution for two years, as its chaplain, enjoyed the best 
opportunity of forming a correct judgment of its men and 
measures, his candid and discriminating mind could not fail 
to be favorably impressed; and hence, for years past, he 
has availed himself of every proper occasion for bearing his 
earnest testimony in behalf of the University, as in every 
way worthy of the confidence of those who desire that the 
promotion of solid learning, and the cultivation of sound 
principles of virtue and religion, untrammelled by secta- 
rianism, should go hand in hand. We think it may be 
asserted without danger of doing injustice to any, that in 
years gone by, the Presbyterians, as a denomination, were, 
of all others, most prejudiced against the University. But 
it is certainly true that these prejudices have long since 
yielded to the light of truth; and we speak what we know, 
when we say that among no class of men has the institution 
at this time more ardent friends and admirers than are to 
be found in the ranks of this same denomination in Virginia. 
Nor do we hesitate to award to Mr. White a large share of 
the credit due to this remarkable change. 



EXTEACT FKOM THE " VlEGINIA ADVOCATE." 127 

"But we have written much more than we intended. 
"Whilst we regret to lose Mr. White from Albsmarle, we 
rejoice that it is only to a sister and neighboring county 
that his labors and his influence are to be transferred. "We 
congratulate those who are to constitute his new charge 
upon their good fortune in securing the services of so good 
and so useful a man; and we heartily wish him and them 
uninterrupted peace, prosperity, and happiness." 



CHAPTER X. 

1848-1861. 

Accepts a Call to Lexington, Va. — ' ' The Skinner War. " — Dr. Skin- 
ner Suspended from the Ministry by the Presbytery. — Restored 
by the General Assembly. — The Pastoral Relation : His State 
op Mind in Dissolving and in Forming It. — The Lexington Con- 
gregation. — Major (afterwards the Renowned General) T. J. 
Jackson. — John B. Lyle. — Anecdote about Him. — Method of 
Collections for the Church — Anecdote about General T. J. 
Jackson. — A Model Deacon. 

" We shall never learn to feel and respect our real calling and destiny unless we- 
have taught ourselves to consider everything as moonshine compared with the edu- 
catlon of the heart." — Sir Walter Scott. 

" TN the summer of 1848 my social and professional life was 
J- comfortable ; my school and church together afforded me 
a very ample support. I had purchased, enlarged and paid 
for a comfortable house and lot. My wife had beautified 
these premises with a rich variety of shrubbery. My school 
and congregation were full, and encouraging additions from 
time to time were made to the church ; my friends kind, in- 
dulgent and generous; my children were progressing well 
with their studies. The two eldest sons were doing well at 
the University. Our two daughters w T ere in my academy, 
and the two younger sons in a good preparatory school. 
The only other child, just three years old, made it the sole 
business of his life to seek his own and our amusement. I 
had abundant cause for contentment and gratitude. True, 
my labors were still heavy ; my health feeble. The doctors 
still gave it as their opinion that I could not endure much 
longer the strain imposed by both preaching and teaching. 

128 



Call to Lexington 129 

Still I got through the labors with a good degree of comfort. 
God had graciously given me a wonderfully recuperative 
constitution. The rest of the vacation and a short excur- 
sion through the mountains generally reinstated me. I had 
no desire to change either my home or employment. I had 
gone to that place in 1836, when I was just thirty-six years 
years of age. I had passed the period of early youth, when 
friendships are readily formed, and as readily broken. I 
had not reached that period of induration when new ac- 
quaintances are made with reluctance and friendships formed 
with difficulty. The state of the congregation, the diversity 
of my employments, an unusual succession of startling afflic- 
tions, more or less like those which befell the Davis and Gil- 
mer families, with which I was brought in close professional 
contact ; these things all conspired to connect me with the 
community, and to awaken mutual confidence and love to no 
ordinary degree. 

"One hundred and forty had been added to the little 
church during my pastorate, and only ten remained who 
were members when I went there. Many seemed to me as 
my own children, and I found much comfort in their love. 

"Such was the state of things when a call from the church 
in Lexington, Va., was unanimously made for my pastoral 
services. This was unexpected, surprising and painful. 
The decision instantly reached in my own mind was that I 
did not desire to go ; nay, I was strongly averse to going ; 
it seemed to me that I could not go. 

" They promised me a salary on which I might hope to live 
without teaching, and this would be favorable to my health. 
But then I not only loved my church, but I loved my school. 
Indeed, it w 7 as a very important part of my church. I was 
truly fond of teaching, and I had good reason to think my 
pupils loved to be taught by me. So soon as it was known 
that I had received this call, the members of the church and 
other friends expressed their sorrow, and avowed their pur- 
9 



130 Dk. Skinner Deposed by Presbytery. 

pose to oppose my leaving by every justifiable means. 
Brethren in the ministry of my own Presbytery came to 
see me, or else wrote, dissuading me from accepting the 
call. It was easy for me to say in all sincerity, I have not 
only no desire to go, but personally am resolved not to go. 

"But I had not sought this call, either directly or indi- 
rectly. Statements made to me by members of the Lexing- 
ton Church and of Lexington Presbytery gave to the whole 
matter the appearance of a special providence. I did fear 
lest haply I might fight against God. I knew that it would 
have been just as sinful for Jonah to remain where he was 
when ordered to go to Nineveh as to go to Tarshish. My 
income was so ample and my condition so comfortable that 
I feared my desire and purpose to remain might be the re- 
sult of a self-indulgent or avaricious spirit. Neither my 
wife nor children ever interfered in such questions. Even 
when called, as I was, to succeed Bev. Dr. Wilson in Fred- 
ericksburg, with the promise of an ample salary, they said 
nothing, and I found it easy to decline. But now the diffi- 
culty grew until I resolved to submit the question to my Pres- 
bytery. 

"The Lexington Church had for seven years been under 
the ministry of the Bev. John Skinner, D. D., a Scotchman. 
The church was not unanimous in calling him, and instead 
of lessening, his course increased the minority against him. 
For five or six years no direct effort was made for his re- 
moval. But, in the summer of 1847, the attempt was made, 
and an excited controversy arose. The church was agitated 
to its deepest foundations. The struggle lasted for twelve 
months, and resulted in the dissolution of the pastoral re- 
lation, and his deposition from the ministry. 

"A pretty strong minority adhered to him in the church, 
and so embittered had the two parties become against each 
other that it was supposed they could never unite in calling 
another pastor. Indeed, to us who were at a distance, the 



His Restoeation to the Ministey. 131 

church seemed hopelessly divided, if not incurably ruined. 
Every member of Lexington Presbytery had taken an active 
part for or against Dr. Skinner, and hence, however anxious 
either party might be to call its favorite of the Presbytery, 
this was impossible. Neither would vote for the favorite of 
the other. They were forced to look beyond their bounds 
for a minister." 

Being anxious to understand why the rancor in the church 
should be so strong as Dr. "White describes it, and not hav- 
ing access to the Minutes of the General Assembly that tried 
this case on appeal, we wrote to Dr. Samuel J. Baird, author 
of the Digest of the General Assembly, for reliable infor- 
mation. From him we received the following reply : 

"Ronceveete, \Y . Va., Nov. 15, 1887. 

" Deae Beothee : . . . Dr. Skinner was tried by the Pres- 
bytery of Lexington upon charges made by certain parties, 
under the name of common fame of having slandered them 
and others. The testimony, taken by a commission, is all 
before me, together with the whole proceedings. The trial 
commenced on March 22, 1848, and was closed on the 3rd 
of April, when the charges were sustained by a majority of 
the Presbytery, and it was 'Hesolvcd, that the said Rev. 
John Skinner, D. D., be, and he hereby is, suspended from 
all the functions of the ministry of the gospel, until he make 
suitable confession of his sins, and give satisfactory evidence 
of repentance/ 

"Against this decision Dr. Skinner gave notice of appeal 
to the Assembly, and the Rev. Wm. Calhoun, for himself 
and others, gave notice of complaint. 

"In the Assembly, the same year, the appeal was 'sus- 
tained pro forma,' and the complaint dismissed. Dr. Skin- 
ner was ' restored to all the functions of the ministry of the 
gospel,' and all parties solemnly admonished. 

" He was suspended by the Presbytery in April, and re- 



132 



Tee Turmoil in the Chuech. 



stored by the Assembly in May of the same year. Of course, 
therefore, it did not come before the Synod. 

"Truly yours, Samuel J. Bated." 

From this statement of the case it is easy to see how the 
passions of the people of Lexington would be roused to such 
an extent as to render it doubtful whether they could ever 
"unite in calling another pastor." Their pastor had been 
tried by his Presbytery for slander, and the highest sentence 
of ecclesiastical law had been pronounced upon him — "sus- 
pension from all the functions of the ministry of the gospel," 
until he repent and confess his sins. The General Assem- 
bly had reversed the sentence of the Presbytery, and re- 
stored their pastor to his office. As we learn from other 
sources, the trial before the Presbytery had been conducted 
in the Lexington Church, in the very midst of the congre- 
gation ; and officers and members of the church had been 
parties to the case in one way and another — nay, the com- 
munity at large had been drawn into it by family ties and 
local jealousies, until those in and those out of the church 
felt themselves thoroughly identified either with the pastor 
or with his accusers ; added to all these facts was the volun- 
tary resignation of the pastor, after his restoration by the 
supreme court, and removal of his family, not only out of 
the State, but out of the United States, and his settlement 
for life a voluntary exile in Canada. It was, therefore, not 
without reason that Dr. White, and others at a distance, 
thought the church "hopelessly divided, if not incurably 
ruined." Such a case as that could not fail to leave a burn- 
ing in the heart of the church that nothing but length of 
time and the almighty Spirit of God could extinguish. 

"In July, 1848, two months after the final decision of Dr. 
Skinner's case, a proposition was made to call a meeting for 
the purpose of electing a pastor. The meeting was accord- 
ingly called, but scarcely any one supposed that any effective 



Accepts the Call to Lexington. 133 

effort would be made to choose one. The meeting was full. 
Rev. W. W. Trimble had been duly invited to preside. 
Great hesitancy appeared on the part of all. Each party 
was reluctant to nominate one of its own friends, feeling 
sure of the opposition of the other. At last some one pro- 
posed that they should unite in special prayer for the bless- 
ing and guidance of God. This was unanimously agreed 
to. It was then proposed that each person entitled to vote 
should at once proceed to prepare a ballot for the man of his 
choice, without any nomination. This was carried. The 
ballots were prepared, collected and counted, when it was 
discovered that every vote except three or four had been 
cast for myself. The minority readily avowed their willing- 
ness to acquiesce with the majority, and thus the vote was 
made unanimous. The call was sent to West Hanover Pres- 
bytery, which met in August, at Rough Creek Church, in 
Charlotte county, by the hands of Dr. Alfred Leyburn and 
Mr. Wm. G. "White, commissioners from the church. The 
Charlottesville Church deputed E. R. W T atson and L. R. 
Railey, Esqrs., commissioners on their part to resist the call. 
"Previous to the meeting of the Presbytery I had ascer- 
tained that a large majority intended to vote against placing 
it in my hands, as they honestly thought I ought not to go. 
But hearing a brief speech from Dr. Leyburn, stating some 
of the foregoing facts relative to the manner in which the 
call had been made, and others not now remembered, they 
voted almost unanimously to place the call in my hands, and 
advised me to accept it. Notwithstanding a long and im- 
passioned speech in opposition by my excellent friend and 
brother, Capt. L. R. Railey, one of the commissioners from 
Charlottesville, I accepted the call, and, with great sorrow 
of heart, asked a dismission from the Presbytery which had 
licensed and ordained me, and to which I had belonged for 
twenty years. This was surely one of the saddest events of 
my life. I returned home with a heavy heart. 



134 Parting with the Charlottesville Church. 

"It is needless to consume time in detailing the circum- 
stances under -which I tore myself aw 7 ay from a people 
among whom I had lived and labored so pleasantly for 
twelve years and four months. It may be enough to say 
that, in bidding them farewell, as one by one I shook their 
hands, I was in no instance able to utter a word. The heart 
was too full and too heavy for speech. Tearfully and silently 
I grasped the hand and turned away. To my latest breath 
the best of my poor prayers shall ascend for such of them 
and their children as still survive. Many, very many, of the 
best of them have already gone to the ' rest that remaineth 
for the people of God.' And among the brightest visions 
of that ' happy land ' which cheer my weary spirit, now that 
I am approaching my three-score years and ten, is the pros- 
pect of meeting them there. 

"Next to the relation of husband and w 7 ife, parent and 
child, there is none on earth so tender and so sacred as that 
of pastor and people. Four times I have enjoyed the institu- 
tion of this relation, and three times have I wept, literally 
wept, over its dissolution. I have to weep once more from 
the same cause, and then sorrow and sighing will flee away 
for ever. ' There's no weeping there.' 

' ' O glorious hour, O blest abode, 
I shall be near and like my God, 
And flesh and sin no more control 
The sacred pleasures of the soul. ' 

" Not having heard the testimony taken by the General As- 
sembly in the case of Dr. Skinner, and not having read the 
published proceedings of Lexington Presbytery, I knew no- 
thing but what reached me at Charlottesville by rumor, and 
also what I had read in a pamphlet he had published in his 
own defence. I had learned enough to fill my mind with 
gloomy apprehensions of trouble in my new charge. 

"Before going to Lexington I attended a meeting of Lex- 
ington Presbytery, at Hebron Church, in Augusta county, 



Reaches Lexington. 135 

to connect myself with that body, and to have arrangements 
made for my installation. There I met Mr. Wm. G. White, 
a ruling elder and one of the commissioners who had recently 
met me at Rough Creek, and such was the state of my mind 
that, when he asked me, ' When are you coming to take 
charge of us ? ' my heart sank like lead in the waters. c To 
take charge of us ! ' A fearful undertaking for such an one 
as I. How shall I ever succeed in healing wounds so deep ? 
— in harmonizing elements so discordant ? But, then, they 
had harmonized in calling a pastor, and this may be per- 
manent. Hope revived, and I talked cheerfully with Mr. 
White. 

"The manse at Lexington was not completed, nor could I 
complete my arrangements for removing my family at once. 
But my work at Charlottesville was over, and they greatly 
needed a pastor at Lexington. Major (now Col.) Preston 
had kindly sent by Mr. White an invitation to make my 
home at his house until my family could join me. I ac- 
cepted this invitation, and about the middle of September, 
1848, reached Lexington, entered on my work, and found a 
comfortable home for several weeks with my good friends 
the Prestons. 

"There are some subjects about which ignorance is bliss, 
and about which it is folly to be wise. This was true, when 
I came to Lexington, of my predecessor and his fierce and 
protracted conflict with the church. Some of the better in- 
formed people of the church had taken this view of the sub- 
ject before I arrived, and had agreed among themselves, 
and enjoined upon their children, that these were to be ig- 
nored as subjects of conversation. When persons of less 
intelligence and discretion brought it up, I declined to talk, 
because of my ignorance, and declined to listen, because of 
all such matters I preferred to remain in ignorance. 

"But the truth is, the church had become, to a great ex- 
tent, harmonious before I arrived. I account for this in the 



136 The Church Harmonious. 

following way: the great body of the church, including those 
who were leaders on each side, were truly pious, and loved 
their church better than they loved any man or any pastor. 
God had signally blessed this church from the beginning 
w T ith seasons of revival. Indeed, it had its birth in a revival. 
The leaders in both parties had passed happily together 
through more than one general revival. Hence, when Dr. 
Skinner pushed matters to such extravagant lengths, with 
so violent a spirit as to awaken in many minds the fear that 
the permanent division and probable ruin of the church 
would be the result, although his friends adhered tenaciously 
to him until the General Assembly of May, 18 £S, gave the 
final decision in the case, yet the moment that was done 
they dropped him and his cause at once, and never, I pre- 
sume, in the history of the church was so deep a wound so 
thoroughly healed in so short a time. Here and there a case 
of personal alienation existed for a few months, but a few 
words kindly and prayerfully spoken to each of the individ- 
uals readily produced thorough reconciliation. With those 
alienations I really had no trouble whatever. 

" The church and congregation gave me a very cordial re- 
ception. The church, in the double sense of house of wor- 
ship and membership, was much larger than either of those 
to which I had been used. The manse, just completed and 
never before occupied, w r as beautiful for situation, spacious 
and convenient. Leaving our two eldest at the University 
of Virginia, the five younger children, with their mother, now 
joined me here, and nothing that any people could supply 
seemed wanting for our happiness. Still, for several months 
both my wife and myself spent many anxious and unhappy 
hours. Old trees do not bear transplanting as do saplings. 
We had almost reached that period of life when persons of 
very strong local attachments, fond of home and neighbors, 
find it extremely painful to move. And there was to be a 
great change in my manner of life. A comparatively small 



Settling Dowx to Work. 137 

church, composed almost exclusively, when I left them, of 
persons I had received into the church, the large majority 
of whom were young, ardent and confiding; a school of 
about one hundred girls, with five assistant teachers, all af- 
fectionate and trustworthy — this was the charge I had left 
for a large, intelligent church, embracing some of the most 
venerable and well-informed ruling elders and members in 
our whole church. Here, too, I found two doctors of divinity 
and five other resident Presbyterian ministers of the gospel, 
only two of whom had any stated professional engagement, 
and all of whom were among my stated hearers. Unused 
as I had been to preach in my own pulpit with a brother 
minister in the congregation, this was a very severe ordeal 
for what modesty I possessed. 

"But these brethren were all indulgent, forbearing and af- 
fectionate in a remarkable degree. They were the Kev. 
Henry Ruffner, D. D., who had resigned the presidency of 
Washington College, but was kept here for many months 
hy the protracted illness of Mrs. Rufiher; Mr. William H. 
Rufiher, son of the Doctor, recently licensed, but kept by 
the affliction which kept his father; Rev. Geo. Junkin, D. D., 
just arrived as successor to Dr. Rufiher in the presidency of 
the College, and who for some months could not find em- 
ployment in the country as a preacher ; Rev. Messrs. Cal- 
houn and Armstrong, professors in the College ; Rev. Mr. 
Turner, son-in-law and assistant of Mrs. Nottingham, the 
principal of Ann Smith Academy; and Rev. James Kerr, 
whose failing health incapacitated him for preaching, and 
had come with his family to spend the winter here. 

"It was very pleasant to have these brethren preach for 
me, as they occasionally did, and to enjoy their society at my 
house or at theirs, but it was a sore trial to have them sit- 
ting ostensibly as learners at my feet. But surely preach- 
ers are, or ought to be, the most indulgent hearers. 

"My labors were soon distributed as follows: I preached 



138 General T. J. Jackson. 

twice on the Sabbath, attended one congregational prayer- 
meeting and a young men's prayer-meeting during the 
week, attended a Bible-class in the lecture-room and one at 
the Academy during the week. In addition to my two 
stated sermons on the Sabbath, morning and evening, l//^- 
frequently preached in the afternoon to the colored people, j 
For the congregational Bible-class I subsequently substituted 
a class for the study of Dr. Green's Lectures on the Shorter 
Catechism. 

"The congregation was much larger than I had been ac- 
customed to and far less homogeneous. To a body of com- 
municants numbering over two hundred and fifty there was 
a mixed assembly composed of people of the town and vicin- 
age, members of the academy for young ladies, students of 
Washington College, cadets of the Virginia Military Insti- 
tute, and a few colored people. On abandoning the old and 
erecting a tasteful and commodious house of worship, which 
was done a year or two before I became their pastor, the 
pews below were so engrossed by the white congregation, and 
the galleries so divided between the College students and 
cadets, that little room was left for the servants. This was 
soon found to be an evil, and some addition was made to the 
accommodations for worshippers by erecting a few pews in the 
open space around the pulpit. But this was very inadequate. 
In a few years a large addition was made to the building, a 
full portion of which was allotted to the servants. This ad- 
ditional room was soon filled, every new pew was taken, and 
the size of the congregation greatly increased. 

"There were five trustees, twelve ruling elders, but no 
deacons. The duties of deacons were performed by the 
ruling elders and trustees jointly. This defect, however, 
was soon remedied by the election of a board of five deacons, 
of whom General Thomas J. Jackson was one. 

'•It is due to the memory of this great and good man to 
say that he was the animating and guiding spirit of that 



Congregation Districted. 139 

body. Mainly through his influence its meetings were held 
with a regularity, and its duties performed with a fidelity, 
that made it not only a blessing to our church and congre- 
gation, but to the whole community. Indeed, it was a 
source of encouragement and comfort to his pastor to have 
the co-operation of a man who prayed and labored as he 
did not to be expressed in words. Regarding that pastor, 
officially, as his superior officer, he reported to him and ap- 
plied for orders with that soldierly fidelity which distin- 
guished him subsequently as the greatest general of his 
time. 

"The attempt was made to call the ruling elders into more 
active service. A stated meeting for official business was 
appointed to be held once a month. This has been kept up 
to the present day. The congregation was divided into six 
districts; two of the twelve elders were assigned to each 
district, to be the 'helps' of the minister in shepherding 
the flock, and another monthly meeting appointed, at which 
these elders were to report what they had done during the 
month, and what they thought should be done by the pastor. 
These reports were not to be confined to the stated meeting, 
but, as necessity arose and the opportunity occurred, they 
were to communicate with the pastor, that he might know 
where and for what purpose his presence was needed. 

" For a time this scheme worked admirably well. How 
could one so accordant with our system of church government 
and polity and characterized by so much wisdom fail thus 
to work? Eut it was new, and many of the session were 
now getting old. Their habits had been formed under the 
ministry of those men of blessed memory, George A. Bax- 
ter, D. D., and the Rev. James W. Douglass. They had not 
pressed such service on them, and by degrees the whole 
scheme fell into utter disuse. This sad result may have 
been due in part to the fact that there was one member of 
the session who was himself a host. This was Mr. John B. 



140 A Model Eldek. 

Lyle, then one of the younger members of the session, re- 
cently elected and ordained to his office, a man who, like 
Jackson, prayed and labored — laboring as he prayed and 
praying as he labored. In season and out of season, through 
evil report and good report, he gave a full portion of every 
day to the service of that church whose purity, peace and 
prosperity he had vowed to seek, both when he was received 
into its communion and when he was ordained to his office. 
These vows he faithfully performed, not confining himself 
to any one district. He was always posted as to the state 
of the congregation. He was especially faithful and success- 
ful in finding cases of religious concern. No man was freer 
from 'fashionable religious cant,' or possessed less aus- 
terity. He could speak to any one on personal religion in a 
way so affable and gentle as never to give offence, and yet so 
pointed as to learn just what he wanted to know. I have 
reason to believe that he conversed and prayed with more 
young men when partially or deeply awakened than any 
man not in the ministry I ever knew, and with far more 
than many ministers ever did. 

"Such cases he always reported to me, and many such he 
brought to my study. His habit was simply to bring them 
in and then retire, leaving me to discover their state of mind 
as best I could. It was by him that I was first made ac- 
quainted with the case of General Jackson, and also that of 
two of my own sons. I have reason to regard him as, in a 
great degree, the spiritual father of these two sons, one of 
whom is now a preacher of the gospel and the other is in 
heaven. It is not surprising that on such a man the whole 
session should lean, and to him all would look to an unjusti- 
fiable extent. It was natural, if not wise, to say, as I appre- 
hend was often said, 'Lyle will do this, and Lyle will do 
that; why trouble myself about it #< ?' 

"Mr. Lyle's pecuniary means were very limited, and yet 
they 'abounded to the riches of liberality.' His generous 



A Model Eldek. 141 

spirit diffused itself through the church and was felt even 
throughout the Presbytery. In the course of a few years 
three calls were made on the Lexington Church to complete 
the endowment of Union Theological Seminary in Prince 
Edward county. When the third application came, some 
complained that these calls were too frequent. The question 
was asked of several gentlemen, 'What do you think the 
church will give now ? ' One said,. ' I am willing to give 
what I gave before.' Another said, 'I cannot give any- 
thing, and I do not think the church ought to give anything.' 
Mr. Lyle, who was commonly the last man to speak on such 
occasions, answered, 'I am willing to double my last sub- 
scription. I think the church ought to do the same, and 
that they will do it.' The effect of this answer was vis- 
ible in every face, and the result was precisely as he said — 
the church doubled their second subscription, 

"Astonished at his liberality, I asked him the question, 
'Lyle, how do you expect to pay this subscription 1 ?' He 
replied, with a smile, 'By making and selling brushes of 
peacock feathers, which I can get from Timber Ridge. You 
know, that part of the county abounds in peacocks, and it 
will do me real good to make their tails contribute to the 
education of young men for the ministry.' True to his 
word, he paid his subscription in that way. 

" He not only had an ear but a soul for music. His voice, 
both for compass and melody, was inferior to none I had 
ever heard. For many years he led the church choir. He 
occupied the centre seat in the choir gallery, directly in front 
of the pulpit. The sound of his far-reaching yet melodious 
voice, and the sight of his broad, full face, radiant with de- 
vout emotion, kindled by the sacred truth embodied in the 
psalm or hymn, often led me to think that his singing was 
as helpful to me as my preaching could be to him. His 
spirit too in this regard was diffused through the congrega- 



142 A Model Elder. 

tion, so that, in his day, the singing of God's praise was a 
real and delightful part of social and public worship. 

"The true source of the divine life this good man led was 
his faith. He could truthfully and habitually say, 'I be- 
lieved, and therefore have I spoken.' His acceptance of 
every jot and tittle of the word of God, his reliance upon 
the scheme of salvation revealed in the gospel, were liter- 
ally unqualified and unwavering. His understanding and 
his will bowed to the authority, and his desires and affec- 
tions found their highest and purest gratification in the les- 
sons of inspiration. Neither the speculations of the fanciful 
nor the cavils of the skeptic weighed a feather with him. 
' Thus saith the Lord ' was the end of all controversy, and 
' Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? ' resolved every ques- 
tion of duty with him. This faith gave him unwavering 
confidence in prayer. ' Ask, and ye shall receive ; seek, and 
ye shall find,' was accepted and quoted by him in its most 
obvious meaning, and pleaded at the mercy-seat in the confi- 
dent expectation of an answer. And many, very many, were 
the direct answers granted to his prayers. He habitually 
went from his closet to the prayer-meeting, the church, and 
even on visits to his friends. 

"This excellent man was attacked with paralysis during 
public worship, and was borne out of the house of God on 
the arms of his friends. After lingering about twelve 
months, he died on the 20th of July, 1858. His powers of 
speech were spared him until very near his end. His sick- 
room was frequented by large numbers of warmly attached 
friends. His intercourse with such was characterized by 
what I must call a sanctified cheerfulness which made his 
room like the vestibule of heaven. Truly it was good to be 
there. His sun went down almost at noon, brightening to 
the last. He was a great reader of books on practical di- 
vinity, and especially of the word of God. His knowledge 



Anecdote of General T. J. Jackson 143 

of the Scriptures was astonishing. He died as he lived, the 
fearless, faithful servant of God. 

" The methods of raising funds for charitable and religious 
purposes which I found in operation when I came to Lex- 
ington was as follows: There were six objects for which 
contributions were systematically asked : Foreign and Do- 
mestic Missions, Education for the Ministry, the Publication 
of Religious Tracts and Books, the Bible Society, and Sab- 
bath-schools. No collections for these objects were ever 
taken in church. In place of this the congregation was di- 
vided into six districts, and a collector appointed for each 
district. Then the clerk of session was required to furnish 
each of these collectors with a list of all the members of the 
church residing in his district. "When each member had 
been seen and his subscription obtained, the lists were re- 
turned to the session and the money remitted. This plan 
had been found to work in this church far better than any 
other. For sixteen years the average contributions had ex- 
ceeded three thousand dollars per annum. 

" On one occasion Gen. Thomas J. Jackson was appointed 
-one of the collectors for the Eible Society. When he re- 
turned his list it was discovered that, at the end, copied by 
the clerk of session, was a considerable number of names 
written in pencil, to each of which a very small amount was 
attached. Moreover, the session, recognizing very few of 
the names, asked who these were. Jackson's characteristic 
reply was 'They are the militia; as the Bible Society is not 
a Presbyterian but a Christian cause, I deemed it best to go 
beyond the limits of our own church.' They were the names 
chiefly of free negro s." 



CHAPTER XL 

1848-1861. 

Pentecostal Seasons. — Special Prayer for the Approaching Meet- 
ing of Synod. — Its Fervor an Indication of Approaching Re- 
vival, which Occurred in his Absence. — Effects of the Reveal 
on the Church. — Another Revival, Extending from November, 
1853, to February, 1854. — Full Account of Another in 1856. — 
Proposition in 1857 to Colonize. — The Church Building En- 
larged. — Efforts for the Colored People. — Sabbath- School 
Founded by Gen. T. J. Jackson for their Benefit. — Work in 
Behalf of Temperance. — Anecdote about his Preaching 
against a Military Ball. — Home Missionary Work. — Stems a 
Torrent of Indignant Opposition to a Public Lecturer. — Rev. 
W. J. Baird, D. D. — His Pulpit Power. 

" For, when the power of imparting joy 
Is equal to tlie will, the human soul 
Eequires no other heaven. " 

THE ministry of Dr. White was blessed with many pente- 
costal seasons Wherever he lived revival after revival oc- 
curred, to refresh the hearts of the people and add many to 
their numbers. As we have seen in Scottsville and Char- 
lottesville, so it was in Lexington on a larger scale. With a 
wider field, a richer experience of personal piety, more wis- 
dom in winning souls, and more pulpit power acquired by 
study and practice, his harvest seasons were more abundant 
in the last nineteen years of his ministerial life than in the 
first nineteen. 

He believed in revivals, worked and prayed for tnem, was 
not satisfied without them. The Holy Ghost worked in him 
so mightily that he could not rest when his church was not 
making perceptible progress, but strove night and day for a 
revival. And God heard him. He sowed in tears and reaped 

144 



His First Revival in Lexington. 145 

in joy. His spirits always ran low when the songs of Zion 
mourned. His countenance, usually so full of light and 
strength, was an infallible index to his heart. "While not 
giving way to gloominess or despondency, it was easy for 
those who knew him well to see at such times a settled 
thoughtfulness on his brow. His correspondence with his 
friends always brought it out. Whatever might be the oc- 
casion of his writing, at the conclusion he would add a line 
about his discouragement and ask an interest in their prayers. 
His conversation with the members of the church would turn 
on the subject and stir up their zeal and enlist their prayers. 
In his sermons he would note the discouraging signs of the 
time, and rouse the people of God from their slumbers to 
prove the Lord of Hosts by prayer and personal effort. Nor 
would he cease until he saw the people aroused. 

In this experience he was not singular. Revivals always 
come to such men, go where they may, unless the place be a 
Chorazin or Bethsaida. " He that goeth forth and weepeth, 
bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with re- 
joicing, bringing his sheaves with him." 

His measures to revive his church were drawn from the 
Scriptures and applied in a wise and wholesome manner. 
. Wildfire was not allowed. His views on this subject, as well 
as his methods of work, are laid down fully in his book, en- 
titled TJie Gospel Ministry, pp. 173-204. The following 
accounts of some of these revivals will be suggestive of some 
of them : 

" In October, 1849, when I had been in Lexington a year, 
the Synod of Virginia met in Petersburg. During this year 
the congregation slowly but steadily increased. The troubles 
in which the church had been involved with my predecessor 
had driven many from the place of worship. These gradu- 
ally returned. The church had been humbled and taught 
to realize their dependence on God, and a spirit of prayer 
began to prevail. Seven made a profession of conversion 
10 



146 His First Revival in Lexington. 

during the year. On leaving home for Petersburg, I pro- 
posed that, at the stated congregational prayer-meeting, al- 
ways held on Tuesday evening, special prayer should be 
offered for the blessing of God on the meeting of Synod. 
The unusual number that attended this meeting, and the 
fervor of the prayers offered, awakened tho hope that God 
was about to visit them with a season of refreshing. Nor 
were they disappointed. I was absent for two Sabbaths. 
The pulpit was occupied on both days by one of the profes- 
sors in college, and only the stated services were held. No 
extra efforts whatever had been employed. When I ap- 
proached the town on my return, I enquired of one of the 
most irreligious men of the place, whom I met in the road, 
for the news. His reply both surprised and delighted me. 
It was in these remarkable words, ' All I know is that there 
is a great revival of religion in your church.' I had no 
sooner entered the town than I discovered, in part at least, 
the truth of what the man had said. As I passed up Main 
Street, a number of my friends came out to welcome me 
home and tell me that a number of persons were asking 
what they must do to be saved. The proposition was made 
and pressed that I should preach that night. But I de- 
clined. It was Tuesday, and that night was the time of our 
stated prayer meeting. I wished first to see, I told them, how 
much there seems to be of a spirit of prayer. 

"The hour for the meeting came. They had had no pub- 
lic meeting of any kind since the Sabbath. The lecture- 
room contained double as many people as I had ever seen at 
a prayer-meeting before. There was deep solemnity and 
tenderness. They who were called on to pray were evidently 
and deeply impressed with their message to the mercy- seat. 
They wasted no words. They indulged in no vain repeti- 
tions. Their prayers were brief, pointed and spiritual. An 
appointment was made for preaching in the lecture-room on 
"Wednesday night. The house was densely filled. I ap- 



His Second Revival in Lexington. 147 

pointed an inquiry meeting, to be held in my study on Thurs- 
day evening. Some twelve or fifteen attended. The work 
progressed steadily and very quietly during November, De- 
cember and January. Through November we had prayer- 
meeting or preaching every night and no service in the day. 
Through the two following months the meetings were less 
frequent. Yet cases of awakening continued to occur. The 
church register contains the names of forty-five members 
added to the church as the fruits of this revival. Besides 
these a few joined other branches of the church. 

" This revival thoroughly harmonized the church and ef- 
faced every trace of the wound inflicted by their former 
troubles. During the four succeeding years there were a 
few additions at every communion, and a very healthful 
state of religion prevailed. The liberality of the church 
greatly improved. They increased my salary and abounded 
more and more in the grace of giving. The increased size 
of the congregations made additional pew rents necessary, 
and these could be provided only by filling up the vacant 
space around the pulpit. 

"In August, 1853, several very interesting cases of con- 
version occurred. This seemed to give new life to the 
church, and through September and October following the 
desire for a revival greatly increased. But no other con- 
versions occurred until the middle of November. Yet 
all the meetings were well attended. The Sabbath-school 
was flourishing; much harmony and brotherly love prevailed 
in the church. Some who had been neglectful, even of pub- 
lic worship, now became constant in their attendance. Wash- 
ington College and the Virginia Military Institute were well 
filled and well conducted. The young men belonging to these 
institutions were punctual and decorous in their attendance. 
They filled the spacious galleries of our church. One of the 
twenty-two gentlemen who had joined the church in the last 
revival was the keeper of the principal hotel in the town. 



148 His Second Revival in Lexington. 

One of the substantial fruits of this conversion was the 
closing of his bar. For four years no spirituous liquors had 
been sold at that tavern, and language cannot describe the 
full extent of the good thus accomplished. 

" Now, I have never been accustomed to hold protracted 
meetings for the purpose of getting i<p a revival, but have 
always held such meetings when the interest excited by the 
ordinary services of the church seemed to make them neces- 
sary. 

"About the middle of November, 1853, as I sat one after- 
noon in my study, I was both surprised and delighted by a 
call from two of our principal merchants. They were gen- 
tlemen of intelligence and influence. They were heads of 
families, pew -holders, whose wives were members of the 
church, constant attendants on worship, but had hitherto 
appeared quite careless as to their personal interest in re- 
ligion. They promptly announced the object of their call. 
In a way they could not accurately describe they had be- 
come sensible of their sinful and undone condition, and de- 
sired to know what they must do to be saved. Such had 
been their early training that they were soon enabled to 
embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to them in the gospel. 
This was quickly followed by other cases of the same sort. 
For about three months we now enjoyed one of the most 
quiet seasons of refreshing I have ever known. There was 
but little increase of public services. Once or twice a week 
I usually held a meeting for inquirers. Rarely more than 
four or five at a time attended these meetings. From No- 
vember 12, 1853, to February 12, 1854, the church register 
exhibits a list of forty-three names added as one of the fruits 
of this season of refreshing. Of these, twenty-one were 
males and twenty-two females ; as in the previous revival, 
there were twenty-two males and twenty-three females. 

" We were careful not to hurry young converts into the 
church, seldom or never admitting' them under one or two 



Reflections on Revivals. 149 

months. About this time we adopted the plan of taking 
persons recently converted, or supposed to be so, under the 
care of the session as candidates for church membership. 
In some cases persons held this position for several months 
before they were admitted, and some, after trial, were ad- 
vised to withdraw their application. 

"Notwithstanding these precautionary measures, candor 
compels me to confess that sufficient pains were not taken 
in many cases to secure a more thorough work of grace be- 
fore admission to the Lord's table. I am painfully con- 
scious of having too often sought to convince inquirers that 
they had valid ground to hope they had been accepted of 
God. They were not sufficiently left to their own exertions 
and the guidance of the Spirit. They had too much mere 
human help. The result, I fear, in some cases, was delusion, 
and in others, where the work might have been real, it was 
still superficial. Had I my time to live over, I would trust 
less to my own exertions and more to the work of the Spirit. 

" In October, 1855, the Synod of Virginia met in Lexington. 
The impression made by this meeting was salutary. The 
business of Synod was transacted with the utmost harmony, 
and the preaching both instructive and impressive. Still, 
no awakening occurred among the impenitent. During the 
succeeding winter, however, the church was in a healthful 
state, and all promised well. When our stated quarterly 
communion, on the second Sabbath of March, approached, 
the pleasing discovery was made that there were six appli- 
cants for admission to the church. The social character and 
position of these applicants were such as to promise good to 
the church. Nor were we disappointed. Perhaps a larger 
amount of good never resulted from the reception of the 
same number of members. 

"I should have said also, that in January of that year much 
mischief was threatened by the passing of our' chief hotel, 
which had for seven years been a thorough temperance 



150 His Third Revival in Lexington. 

house, into the hands of those who avowed their purpose to 
make it 'a genteel drinking establishment.' 

"Notwithstanding this, the reception, early in March, of 
the six members referred to, was graciously followed by other 
cases of religious awakening, which so multiplied that by 
the middle of April we were blessed with a revival of greater 
extent and power than either of those already referred to." 

From The Central Presbyterian: 

" The Lexington Revival. 
"We omit some editorial matter to make room for the 
following deeply interesting letter from Dr. "White, of Lex- 
ington. Nothing can be more cheering and profitable to 
Christians than the perusal of such accounts of God's gracious 
dealings with his people in answer to prayer. 

" Lexington, Va., Mag 30, 1856. 
"Rev. Dr. Hoge: 

" My Dear Brother : When we met at Union Seminary a 
few weeks since, you requested me to furnish for The Cen- 
tral Presbyterian a statement respecting the work of grace 
with which God has recently blessed the Lexington Church. 
I deemed it premature to do this until the present time. 
On the last Sabbath, the first communion since the revival 
commenced was held, and the results on that occasion justify 
a compliance with your request. 

" For twelve months preceding our communion in March 
last, the church had been in a very cold state. Everything 
good in our midst seemed to languish. Two communions 
passed without any additions on examination, and only seven 
additions were made during the whole year. . 

" The meeting of our Synod here in October was highly 
prized by the church and people generally. For many weeks 
after the adjournment the remark was frequently made, 
'How delightful was the meeting of Synod!' It has since 



Satan Hindering. 151 

appeared that in a few cases impressions were made on the 
unregenerate which led them to Christ. 

" About the middle of February a verbal communication 
was made to me confidentially, that a few females had united 
in special prayer for a revival. The fourth Thursday in 
February came, and was observed, as usual, with much sol- 
emnity. About this time the principal hotel of the village, 
which for seven years had been a temperance house, passed 
into other hands, and preparations were made to open a 
spacious and attractive bar. The contiguity of Washington 
College and the Virginia Military Institute, superadded to 
many other considerations, rendered this in the highest de- 
gree undesirable. The proposed change was resisted by the 
officers of the two institutions and others with much zeal. 
Advocates of the new enterprise, neither few nor weak, ap- 
peared on the other side. Meetings were held, speeches 
made, and newspaper articles written, until much bad feel- 
ing was engendered. 

" This excitement was greatly increased by a serious dis- 
turbance in college on the evening of the 22nd of February, 
occasioned by the unlawful introduction within its walls of 
intoxicating drinks. All this seemed unfavorable to the re- 
vival of pure and undefiled religion. But 'God's ways are 
not as our ways, nor his thoughts as our thoughts.' 

" In the midst of this conflict our first communion for the 
year came. During the week preceding the second Sabbath 
in March, the pleasing discovery was made that six unusu- 
ally interesting cases of conversion to God had recently oc- 
curred ; and when we met on that Sabbath to commemorate 
the dying love of the Saviour, the six persons thus hopefully 
renewed were received into the church. This precious com- 
munion was like a gleam of sun-light breaking through the 
darkness of a stormy night. Many said, ' It was good to be 
there.' But still the storm raged, and no indication of other 
awakenings came. The main body of the church appeared 



152 An Impressive Death Scene. 

to be engrossed with the contest still going on, or sunk in 
profound slumber. ' The night was dark and dreary.' 

"But another sign of the breaking of day was seen. 
An anonymous letter was brought to me from the postoffice. 
The writer is entirely unknown to this hour. It was in these 
words : 

'"The writer of this feels it her duty, in the midst of so 
much that must sadden the heart of our dear paster, to in- 
form him that, although there seems to be no outward man- 
ifestations of the presence of God's Spirit among us, she has 
reason to know that the Spirit is operating on the hearts of 
many of our young people, and a few professing Christians 
are endeavoring to arouse themselves from their long slum- 
ber. This is written to encourage our pastor, because outward 
manifestations of interest do not seem to exist.' 

"Now, too, a member of the Ann Smith Academy ex- 
pressed her surprise, on coining home from school, that 
several of the young ladies of the Academy ' had for several 
days appeared very serious, that they were often seen sepa- 
rated from the other girls, conversing and reading the Bible 
together.' The daughter of a pious father, too, sought an 
interview with him to ask what she must do to be saved. 

"Just in this state of things came the terrible calamity 
which ended in the death of young Booker (young Booker 
was a student of Washington College who had been acci- 
dentally shot by a pistol in the hands of a fellow-student, his 
room-mate and warm personal friend). This sad story is 
well known to all your readers. He lived, to the surprise of 
every one, more than two days, during all which time he re- 
affirmed his faith in Christ with so much clearness, warned 
and exhorted his attendants and friends so faithfully, and 
prayed for them so fervently, that many were at once sav- 
ingly awakened. 

" One week after his funeral, the Rev. John H. Bocock, in 
compliance with a promise made to me several months be- 



The Harvest. 153 

fore, came to preach for us. He preached five sermons, 
which many will never forget. A week after he left, the 
Eev. B. T. Lacy, also in compliance with a promise made 
some time before, came and helped us. God greatly helped 
him. 

"The number of those attending the meetings for religious 
inquiry now amounted to sixty. We arranged our meetings 
so that they should not interfere with the ordinary duties 
either of the citizen, the student or the cadet. All went 
on calmly, but very earnestly. "The irreligious and the un- 
concerned expressed astonishment at the absence of all ap- 
pearance of disorder or excess. 

" We were also favored during the time with several ser- 
mons from the Eev. J. H. Smith, of Charlottesville, and Eev. 
Wm. G. Campbell, of Staunton, and one very unexpectedly 
from my excellent old friend and brother, Eev. Wm. Ham- 
ersley, and two from one whom I shall make free to call one 
of the sons of our own church, the Eev. Chas. M. See. All 
these brethren were blessed in their own souls, and made 
blessings to us. 

" Considerably more than two months have elapsed since 
this gracious work commenced, nor has it ceased. The ex- 
tra preaching has ceased, bat still unmistakable tokens of 
the presence of God's Spirit are seen. 

" The town, the College, and the Military Institute shared 
about equally in this blessed work. 

" Last Sabbath the Lord's supper was celebrated in our 
church, and we deemed it proper to give to those who, two 
or three weeks before, had put themselves under the care of 
session as caudidates for church membership an opportunity 
to confess Christ before men. On that occasion fifty -five 
w T ere received. Cf these thirty were males and twenty-five 
females. Six others still stand as candidates, and several 
others are still anxiously seeking the way of life. 

"Fifteen students of college have united with the Pres- 



154 A Day Never to be Forgotten. 

byterian and five with the Episcopal Church, while nineteen 
cadets have joined the Episcopal and two the Presbyterian 
Church. One student and three or four cadets have also 
joined either the Baptist or Methodist Church; a third, 
cadet awaits the consent of his father to join our church. 

"A most delightful spirit prevails. The young men of 
the two institutions worship together with the utmost har- 
mony. Asperity has been banished. The angry contro- 
versy about the tavern bar has long since ceased, and the 
very atmosphere of schools and village seems imbued with 
the Divine Spirit. To all ' who love our Lord Jesus Christ 
in sincerity and truth 'it has been, and still is, a time of 
calm, yet very high religious enjoyment. Surely nothing 
but that religion which rises to the highest and stoops to- 
the lowest could produce the change now distinctly seen in 
individuals and through the community. 

" Last Sabbath was a day never to be forgotten by our 
people. Fifty-five young disciples, rising in the midst of an 
immense audience and singing as they arose and stood — 

" 'Jesus, I my cross have taken, 
All to leave and follow thee, 
Naked, poor, despised, forsaken, 
Thon my all from hence shall be. ' 

This was a scene not to be described. My faith is scarcely 
strong enough to warrant the expectation that I shall live 
to see another like it. But be this as it may, the recollec- 
tion of this will go with me through life, and cheer me in 
death. 

' 'Thirteen of those admitted were baptized, among whom, 
I cannot refrain from stating, was the cherished friend of 
Booker, who so unintentionally and so sadly to himself 
had been the occasion of his death. "When this esteemed 
young man presented himself for baptism, almost the whole 
audience wept. Gratitude to God went up from many a 



Means of Promoting the Revival. 153 

heart, that out of so deep an affliction so rich a blessing had 
been brought. 

" The worship was closed by singing the good old hymn, 
commencing — 

" 'How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, 
Is laid for your faith in his excellent word. ' 

The singing of this hymn, associated in the minds and hearts 
of the children of God with all that had preceded it, called 
forth feelings which bore them far towards heaven. 
" Yours truly and affectionately, 

"Wm. S. White. 

"P. S. — The books and tracts of our Board of Publication 
have been eminently blessed in the awakening of the care- 
less, the guiding of the anxious, and the confirming of the 
young convert. There has been such a demand for these 
publications that we were obliged to order a fresh supply by 
express. 

" The revival seemed to begin and, for a long time, to be 
confined to a small portion of the church. Let the pastors 
of large and sleeping churches take courage. * Where two 
or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in 
the midst of them. W. S. W." 

"Immediately after the communion on the second Sabbath 
in March, I left home to assist the Rev. B. T. Lacy in a sac- 
ramental meeting at Salem, Roanoke county, and to visit my 
daughter at Christiansburg, Montgomery county. Pro- 
posals were then made to me to leave Lexington, of so invit- 
ing a kind that I was strongly inclined to do so. I said to 
those making it : * If the angry excitement prevailing con- 
tinues, I shall leave.' But I reached home just as young 
Booker died, in time to preach his funeral sermon, found 
the letter of my anonymous correspondent, the revival in 
progress, and so determined to remain. 



156 Chukch Building IHnlakged. 

" This revival added sixty-eight to the membership of the 
church, the majority of whom were young men. Many of 
these were well educated, and most of them were in the way 
to be so. The church was not only enlarged, but strength- 
ened. The cases of apostasy were fewer than those of either 
of the preceding revivals. Indeed, we had great reason to 
be thankful that the number of such was so small in each 
case. 

" From June, 1856, to the present time, October, 1864, the 
church has enjoyed no general revival. The largest number 
received in any one year since was nineteen on profession 
and ten on certificate. 

"But the congregation had so increased that it was deemed 
advisable in 1857 either to colonize and build a new house 
of worship, having a pastor to each, or else to enlarge their 
house of worship and remain together. 

"I very sincerely expressed my willingness to agree to 
cither plan. If they deemed it best to colonize and build a 
new church, I would willingly take charge of either if de- 
sired, or retire altogether. My proposal met with no favor. 

" After many meetings, and after asking the advice of the 
Presbytery, in 1859 they entered upon t'he enlargement of 
the building then in use. They added ten feet to the length 
of the building, and a wing to the right and left of the pul- 
pit, each twenty feet square, with considerable increase of 
the galleries, especially for the accommodation of the colored 
people. The work was a complete success. The church 
was much enlarged and beautified, at an expense of some- 
thing over $4,000. The lecture-room also was improved, at 
an expense of- $1,200. 

"A congregational meeting was now held, and a proposi- 
tion unanimously adopted to re-assess all the pews and relet 
them. This succeeded, and every pew was at once taken at 
an increased price. The church now enjoyed a large mea- 
sure of prosperity. The congregation was considerably in- 



V 



Increased Prosperity. 157 

creased in size, the prayer-meeting well attended, and the 
two Sabbath-schools, one for the whites and the other for the 
blacks, were full. The latter of these schools was organized 
in 1856, by Major (afterwards General) Thomas J. Jackson, 
and was superintended by him with distinguished energy 
and success, until he was called to act so conspicuous a part 
in the defence of our invaded country. The singleness of 
aim, the purity of motive, the enlightened zeal and practical 
wisdom of this man, whose fame is now wide as the world, 
made him a blessing to the church which no language can 
adequately express. He joined the church with six others, 
on the 22nd of November, 1851, and soon after was elected 
a deacon. As his biography has already been written, and. 
as it will hereafter be rewritten until the civilized world will 
be familiar with the leading traits of his character and the 
events of his life, no more need be said here. For about ten 
years it was my privilege to sustain to him the two-fold re- 
lation of pastor and personal friend — a privilege I shall 
prize as one of the richest of my life until my work on earth 
is ended. ^/ 

"From the beginning of my professional life, I have felt a 
deep interest and made special exertions for the spiritual 
good of the colored people. I have stated before that, when 
I came to Lexington I found the church edifice, then recently 
erected, though large, not large enough to accommodate 
many of this people. To obviate this, my first effort was 
to preach to them on Sabbath afternoon. For a time many 
attend :d and seemed interested; but their practical exclu- 
sion from our house of worship had turned them to the 
Baptist and Methodist churches. Only about a dozen, and 
these chiefly old and infirm, were communicants in our 
church. Death and removal soon diminished their number 
to only two or three, and nothing else was done to supply their 
places. I record this with no little shame and mortification. 

"After some years I proposed to the church that Saturday 



158 General T. J. Jackson. 

afternoon should be allowed to them, on condition that they 
would attend on a service to be held by me at that time for 
their benefit. Now, too, they attended well for a time, but 
soon fell away. The truth is, that they had become so 
enamored with a boisterous sort of meeting that they could 
not relish our calm and quiet method of proceeding. As 
the labor was seen to be too arduous for me, the church 
employed a younger minister, admirably fitted for the work, 
to take the oversight of them as his special charge. He 
labored faithfully for a time, but with no visible sign of suc- 
cess. Thus attempt after attempt has failed. 

"But the Sabbath-school, founded by General Jackson for 
their benefit, was a decided success. This distinguished 
man threw himself into this work with all of his character- 
istic energy and wisdom. Whatsoever he did prospered. 
To the moment he was always punctual at the opening of 
the school. Although wholly ignorant of the science of 
music, and having neither ear nor voice for singing, he yet 
learned so to sing 

' ' ' Amazing grace, how sweet the sound 
That saved a wretch like me, ' 

that the school would recognize it and carry it along. Sab- 
bath after Sabbath he would stand before his school of blacks 
and raise this hymn and tune for them. 

"He issued monthly reports to the owners of the slaves. 
These reports he delivered in person, calling each month at 
every house where one of his pupils lived. When necessary 
he conferred with the family about all matters connected 
with the behavior or misbehavior of the pupils. 

"Under his management this school became one of the 
most interesting and useful institutions in the church. So 
deep was the interest he felt in it that, during the war, when 
he was at the front, in the midst of active campaigns, he 
would find time to write asking about it, and otherwise 



Efforts for the Slaves. 159 

showing how closely it lay on his brave heart. This school 
is now (November 17, 1864) prosperous and doing good." 

The school continued in operation over thirty years, and 
was at last brought to a close only when the necessity for its 
continuance passed away. 

These statements about General "Stonewall" Jackson by 
Dr. White are corroborated by Mrs. Margaret Preston, the 
General's sister-in-law, in an article published by her in TJie 
Sunday-school Times of December 3, 1887. She writes as 
follows: "And when the major had become a general, and 
was sweeping back and forth through his native Virginia at 
the head of his army, he rarely wrote a letter home in which 
something was not said about his well-beloved Sunday-school. 
Success or defeat, anxiety or suffering, glory or grief, nothing 
made him forget it, or cease to be interested in its welfare." 

If Dr. White had depended solely upon his pulpit and pas- 
toral work, his success as a minister would have been less 
marked. He did much extra work, which seconded his 
main work by increasing the area of his usefulness, multi- 
plying the number of his friends, and preparing the way 
for his pulpit power. He took hold of everything with wis- 
dom and earnestness that could be made subsidiary to 
preaching, so that his success was the aggregate result of 
many efforts in many directions. As his work among the 
negroes led to the development of the working power of 
General Jackson and others in the same way, so his efforts 
in the matter of intemperance set others to work in this di- 
rection, and drew friends to his side. 

Work in the Temperance Cause. 
Two days after coming to Lexington with his family, No- 
vember, 1848, the election of General Z. Taylor to the Pres- 
idency of the United States took place. On that day the 
streets of the town were rilled with drinking men, and about 



160 Genekal Jackson's Negeo Sunday-school. 

twelve o'clock the fighting began. Never before, and never 
since, have we seen so many personal combats take place in 
so short a time and in so small a place. Between the court- 
house and the upper tavern on Main street we saw many in 
quick succession. A part of the time two were going on at 
once, the one of which was between two very old and gray- 
haired men. 

The Scotch-Irish settlements in the Valley of Virginia 
were noted for three things: churches, academies of learn- 
ing and distilleries. The latter flourished in spite of the 
former, and, among a less sturdy, intelligent and godly race 
of people, would have led to utter demoralization. 

Dr. White's great heart was stirred as he beheld the 
abounding^ of this iniquity. We have heard him over and 
over again, in the family circle, count up the distilleries in 
the county, and lament the almost universal use of alcoholic 
stimulants in both county and town. He determined, by the 
help of God, to abate or destroy the evil. He joined the 
Sons of Temperance, not because, as we heard him say, he 
thought it the best thing, but because he believed there was 
nothing wrong in it, and because, if he "could not get a 
long, straight hickory to kill a snake in his path, he would 
take any stick he could find, however crooked." He ad- 
dressed them on public occasions in Lexington. He went 
out into the county of Rockbridge in every direction to make 
speeches. He influenced others to do likewise. He talked 
with the country people when they came to town on the sub- 
ject, made appointments through them for public gather- 
ings at different places. Thus he kept up the agitation 
of the popular mind on the subject. Twice we recol- 
lect that he, after speaking at two points in the country, 
went home with the distillers in those neighborhoods to 
spend the night, and made himself as agreeable as possible, 
by conversation on any and every other subject than that on 
which he had spoken in public. One of these distillers 



Home Mission ah y Work. 161 

volunteered, as he was leaving the next morning, to say to 
him: "I do not want to say anything rashly, but I think I 
will never distil another drop." And he kept his word. 
This was one of the peculiar talents of Dr. White; he could 
denounce a sin with the utmost sternness in such a way that 
the sinner would not take it amiss. In a few years distil- 
ling was almost entirely abandoned throughout the county. 

Home Missionary Work. 

Throughout life he was devoted to Home Missionary work. 
When he lived in Nottoway his regular work extended over 
this county, with those of Amelia and Dinwiddie. But his 
zeal for God and for souls drove him at times into the re- 
gions beyond. When he lived in Charlottesville, a large 
part of each summer was spent in travelling through Madi- 
son, Culpeper, Green, Orange, Fauquier, Rappahannock, and 
other counties, preaching in school-houses and farm-houses, 
as well as churches. As he was lame, he always took one of 
his sons along with him through these counties, to open the 
gates and let down the check-rein for his horse to drink. 
When he lived in Lexington he did the same sort of work, 
helping the brethren in the upper end of the Valley of Vir- 
ginia, and in Southwest Virginia. The Lord sent times of 
refreshing to Salem, Christiansburg, Blacksburg, Wytheville, 
Union, in West Virginia, and other places that he visited. 
Thus his labor was rewarded, and his heart warmed up with 
fresh zeal for work at home on his return. He preferred 
spending his vacations in this way to lolling at the watering 
places, or sight-seeing in Europe. 

On these excursions, besides preaching the word, he made 
many temperance speeches and speeches on education, and 
did a great deal of wayside, colloquial preaching. These 
two causes lay next to the gospel in his heart. We have 
heard him on the road with strangers defending the Uni- 
versity of Virginia, at a time when public sentiment was 
11 



162 Illustrative Anecdote. 

running strongly against it, and advising a liberal education 
for young men as the best possible money-investment for 
them. His reasons are distinctly remembered after the 
lapse of over forty years, although but a child when we heard 
them. 

To make himself agreeable to every one was his constant 
aim. Not only in his own house, but on the roadside, in 
the stage-coach, wherever his elbow touched that of a fel- 
low-man, rich or poor, well-dressed or ill, educated or igno- 
rant, he laid himself out to make time pass pleasantly. 

As a conversationalist he never argued or made speeches, 
nor did, as Macaulay says of Samuel Johnson, "fold his 
legs up to have his talk out," but exchanged sentiments, 
told stories, dealt in pleasantry. Conversation was with him 
colloquial, mind acting upon mind and thought playing be- 
tween, 

"Heart-affluence in discnrsive talk, 
From household fountains never dry. " 

On missionary excursions this served him a good turn; for 
when he had ingratiated himself into the good will of a 
man by pleasant intercourse, he would, by a versatility 
often remarked upon, give conversation a serious turn, and 
by a well-told anecdote or a sentence or two breathing 
the spirit of the gospel, plant a religious truth in the mind 
of his friend. 

One of the elders of his church once said of him, that he 
showed this versatility sometimes in the pulpit. When he 
saw his audience growing drowsy he would tell an anecdote 
to wake them up, then go ahead. He could turn in a mo- 
ment from the deepest seriousness to humor, and that too 
without effort or affectation. We remember hearing him 
once, on a missionary tour, bolt out an outlandish word in 
his sermon. Hiding away from church we asked him why 
he did so. "Did you not see," he replied, "that the con- 
gregation was becoming listless and some of them sleepy % 



Illustbative Anecdote. 163 

I used that word just to wake them up and get their atten- 
tion." And he did it. 

Another instance illustrative of this talent is given by the 
Religious Herald, a Baptist paper published in Richmond, 
Va., dated September 8th, 1887. " This about dancing we 
clip from the correspondence of the "Western Recorder: 
'About thirty years ago, we heard old Dr. Wm. S. "White, 
Stonewall Jackson's pastor, at Lexington, Va., preach a ser- 
mon from the text, "Be not conformed to this world." In 
the course of his sermon he had a good deal to say about 
dancing, and we have never forgotten some of his observa- 
tions on that subject. For instance, "A sister with whom I 
was remonstrating for sending her daughter to a dancing 
school said to me, 'Well, she had better dance than talk 
•scandal.' 'Madam,' said I, 'you are paying your daughter a 
very poor compliment. You are saying that she has not 
sense enough to carry on a conversation without resorting 
to scandal, or else you are saying that she is so brimful of 
scandal that she must needs talk it out at her head or dance 
it out at her heels.' " 

" 'Again, "But people are continually asking me if danc- 
ing in the abstract is wrong. Well, no ; and if you will only 
dance in the abstract you will never hear any objection from 
me. But unfortunately I've never known any one to dance 
in the abstract. All the dancing that ever I knew was in 
the concrete." We really think this is one of the smartest 
things that we ever heard anybody say on this subject,'" 

"Yes," says the Baptist Herald, "old Dr. W T hite teas 
smart, and, what is better, he was an able and successful 
minister and pastor." 

He never forgot that he was the servant of Christ, and 
anywhere and everywhere sought out opportunities of use- 
fulness. He would cheerfully leave the most entertaining 
company to speak a word for God to souls. Stopping at a 
country tavern, called "Blue Ridge Hotel," in Botetourt 



164 Illustrative Anecdote. 

county, Va.j and learning, after supper, that the Sons of 
Temperance were to hold a stated meeting not far off, he 
left his company, went to the lodge, and made a little 
speech. Years afterwards, stopping at the same tavern, we 
met one who was present and heard the speech, who gave a 
long account of it and the good done to the cause. 

Thus he did the work of an evangelist and made full proof 
of his ministry. The thought of hirmg himself out to a 
congregation to do so much work for so much pay could 
never have taken root in his mind. Yet he did not neglect 
his special charge, but felt bound in conscience to lay out 
his strength for those over whom God had made him overseer. 

No minister of the gospel could be further removed from 
what King Charles calls "the ghostly influence of my chap- 
lains " than was he. He was intensely human ; he loved all 
sorts of genteel society. "When a visitor at a public place, 
such as a "health resort," he mixed with the people in the 
parlors, on the piazzas and lawns ; he used his room to sleep 
in, but for little else. No one would ever take him to be a 
preacher from his dress or manner. 

A j)leasant little incident once occurred with him at the 
"Warm Springs, Bath Co., Ya., which has been going the 
rounds of the newspapers for years. Sometimes it is told 
of one minister and then of another. The last account we 
saw of it gave the names of the parties as a clergyman of 
the Church of England and a member of the British Parlia- 
ment. 

After sitting for an hour with a party of gentlemen in the 
parlor of this "watering place," one of whom was Senator 
Orr, of South Carolina, — then, if we remember aright, Gov- 
ernor of his State - he arose to leave. As he was walking 
across the floor, limping, with a limp peculiar to him from 
childhood, Mr. Orr sprang to his feet and recalled him, say- 
ing, "Dr. White, were you not chaplain at the University of 
Virginia in 1840?" 



Christian Firmness. 165 

"Yes," replied the Doctor. 

"Well, I thought so; I recognized you by your walk; I 
was a student there then." 

Dr. White answered pleasantly, " Governor, my infirmity 
seems to have impressed you more deeply than my preach- 
ing or conversation — a rather equivocal compliment, is it 
not?" 

"Oh!" replied the governor, with the most excellent wit, 
"Pardon me, Doctor, but I think there is a compliment in 
it after all. Is it not better to be recognized by one's walk 
than by his conversation f" 

Combined with versatility, zeal, sweetness and humor, was, 
as Dr. B. L. Dabney calls it, his "lion-like courage." He 
never drove a measure through his session, nor forced his 
own ideas upon his congregation. But when the time came, 
he could oppose a host, even of the good and mighty. 

In the winter of , the Rev. Dr. W. J. Baird was in- 
vited by the to deliver a series of lectures in Lexing- 
ton, on his travels in Europe. When Dr. Baird came, and 
was in the town, and notice given, some of the gentlemen of 
the place, lawyers, professors, politicians, and others, learn- 
ing that his name was on the list of the one thousand 
clergymen, who had petitioned Congress to prohibit slavery 
from the territories, made a great clamor about his aboli- 
tionism, in order to drive him from the town, or throw cold 
water upon his lectures. 

Dr. White, though a decided pro-slavery man, determined 
to stand by him, as the invited guest of the community, and 
introduced him to the audience the first evening with a 
speech, giving his reason for so doing, which he closed with 
the well-known words, " Sink or swim, live or die, survive or 
perish, I give my hand to this brother." He prevailed. The 
people, as a mass, stood by him, although the agitators 
stayed away and sulked in their homes. 

The pulpit work of Dr. White was characterized princi- 



166 Pulpit Work. 

pally by spiritual power. He believed in the preparation by 
the Holy Spirit for public worship of the hearts of both 
preacher and people, and came from the mercy-seat to the 
pulpit. He tried to see the face of God before looking into 
the faces of his audience, and to bring fresh feeling from 
God to the work. Therefore, the blood mounted to his face 
and his soul glowed with intense ardor. As Mr. Longfellow 
poetically said of his favorite preacher, one could always 
"hear his heart beat." 

"While not eschewing the graces of rhetoric or the methods 
of logic, they were always subsidiary to the one design of 
making the truth plain. They never caught the eye in his 
preaching more than the frame that holds the light in the 
darkness. 

Yet his study was not only an oratory, it was a workshop 
also. He was fond of books, and made a good use of them, 
although perhaps not so patient and plodding a student as 
some others. His sermons in manuscript show an exactness 
of method that did not impress us when delivered. It is 
obvious from these that he studied closely, and carried 
"beaten oil into the pulpit." Out of the hundreds in our 
possession, not one can be found whose order is not regular, 
and that does not abound in thought. 

Kev. Dr. Dabney writes: "I have heard from him many 
able, well-knit, doctrinal sermons, especially while chaplain 
at the University." 

Dr. Plumer writes: "His pulpit was his throne." Per- 
haps these two heard him more frequently than any of his 
professional brethren. In sermonizing, we would say, Ezra 
was his model, who "read in the book, in the law of God 
distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to under- 
stand the reading." 



CHAPTEE XII. 

1861-1865. 

A ' ' Union Man " at the Secession op South Carolina. — What Changed 
his Mind and that of his State. — Abolitionism and Secession- 
ism. — List of those in his Church and Congregation who Per- 
ished, or were Disabled for Life in the War. — Depreciated 
Currency. — Peace in the Midst of War. — Extract from a Let- 
ter of his Son who Fell in Battle. — False Philanthropy of Abo- 
litionists. — Their Agency in Bringing on the War. — The Nat. 
Turner Insurrection. — John Brown's Diabolical Scheme. — The 
Southern People on the Defensive for Thirty Years Prior to 
the War. — Gen. Hunter's Euffianism in Lexington. — Shells, 
Burns and Sacks the Town. — Gen. Averill's Paid ; a Thorough 
Gentleman. — Chaplains in the Northern Army. — The Gayety 
among the people. — slr walter scott's keview of the french 
Revolution. — "The Lost Cause." — Grace Triumphs. 

" Where cattle pastured late, now scatter'd lies 
With carcasses and arms th' ensanguin'd field, 
Deserted." 

"npHE opening of the spring of 1861 found my family and 
-L congregation in the enjoyment of a measure of prosper- 
ity rarely possessed in this world. "We had health and com- 
petence. Five little families that had gone out from our 
family altar now had such altars of their own. One darling* 
boy was prosecuting his studies for the ministry with emi- 
nent success. The youngest had just entered Washington 
College, being in his sixteenth year. 

"The church was harmonious. The two Sabbath-schools, 
the prayer-meetings, the worship of the sanctuary, were well 
attended, and a communion had rarely occurred for years 
without gratifying additions to the church. How good and 

167 



168 Virginia and Secession. 

how pleasant it was thus to live under the fostering care and 
love of the God of peace ! 

"But fearful omens of great trouble appeared in the 
North. A sectional President and Vice-president of the 
United States had been elected, in the autumn of 1860, by 
a bare plurality of votes, and several of the Southern States 
had quietly withdrawn from the Union. On the 4th of 
March, 1861, the President-elect was inaugurated, and it 
became evident at once that it was his purpose, and that of 
the party which had placed him in power, to attempt the 
forcing of the retiring States back into the Union at the 
point of the bayonet. 

"Virginia had not withdrawn from the Union, and an im- 
mense majority of her people were strongly opposed to this 
measure as the wisest and best means of seeking redress for 
the wrongs the whole South suffered at the hands of the 
North. "With this feeling I sympathized With all my heart. 
I deprecated what then seemed to me like 'burning the 
barn to kill the rats. 

" The newly elected President issued a proclamation on the 
15th of April, 1861 — a little more than a month after his in- 
auguration — calling for seventy -five thousand men to coerce 
the retiring States back into the Union. Of these, Virginia 
was required to furnish a specified quota. This was an un- 
disguised declaration of war on the part of the general 
government against certain States composing a part of that 
government. Virginia now felt that she no longer had the 
option of peace or war, nor any option between a war of in- 
vasion or a war for defence. It had been decided for her 
that she must and should fight, and that she should join in 
an invasion of her sisters of the South. 

"Her decision was soon formed. As she must fight, she 
claimed the poor privilege of deciding whom she should 
fight. So she promptly withdrew from the Union, and 
placed herself on the defensive, by the side of her invaded 
sisters. 



A Union Man. 169 

" Such a revolution in public sentiment at once occurred 
^s I never witnessed nor read of. Thousands, nay, tens of 
thousands, of those who, up to this time, were as true friends 
to the Union as any government ever had, at once became 
its enemies The flag, for which they would have died on 
one day, they would have shot the next. Thus the war 
began. 

" I am not now concerned with its history. I wish merely 
to leave for my children a few notes, referring chiefly to the 
sad interest my own household has had in it. I have re- 
corded the views which determined my course in the matter." 

We insert here several letters, written during the war, not 
only to show his course in the matter, but because they re- 
fer to certain facts of much importance in its history. 

"Lexington, Va., Dec. 13, 1860. 
" To the Eev. John S. Watt : 

"My Deak Brother: ... I had seen Dr. Palmer's sermon 
in the Witness before your letter came. Still, I thank you 
for the copy. Dr. Palmer can hardly be so simple as really 
to desire the breaking up of this great confederacy. He 
must have preached thus to scare the Yankees into terms. 
. . . The fountain of all this evil lies deeper than men of 
either party are now willing to confess. The addition of 
territory, the influx of foreigners, the extension of the right 
of suffrage, have altogether given the centrifugal force such 
an ascendancy over the centripetal, that I fear it is impossible 
to keep our Confederacy in its orbit. And then abolition 
has been so convenient a smut-ball for each party to use in 
blackening each other, that at last they have all become 
blackened together. The leading men of the country are 
thoroughly corrupt, and we are to have another fearful con- 
firmation of the doctrine of human depravity. Man is too 
great a sinner to govern himself. . . . 



170 A Union Man. 

"There is to be a great gathering here to-morrow, and I 
have been warmly urged to speak. Even the Federal judge 
of this district has pressed me to do so. But no, sir. I 
will not. I preach now on such texts as these, ' The word 
of God is not bound '; ' Be not afraid, only believe '; ' He that 
ruleth his spirit,' etc. ; 'Let patience have her perfect work'; 
'Your adversary, the devil, goeth about,' etc. I recently 
studied and sought to unfold the character of his satanic 
majesty in full. I never did it before. I wished to make 
the people acquainted with their new ruler. So, you see, I 
agree with you as to his present preeminence and power. 

"But keep cool. The bursting of the boiler of a steam- 
boat would be as nothing to the explosion that would occur, 

if you or I get in the wrong box. Our brother-in-law, , 

and his son , are run-mad secessionists. The seces- 
sion spirit is rising and spreading in Virginia. Dr. Junkin 
roars against it like a lion. ..." 

" Lexington, Va., March 2, 1865. 
"To the Kev. Wm. Bkown, D. D. : 

" My Dear Brother : . . . . You greatly misunderstand 
me, if you suppose I ever intended to say that my personal 
sins had not had their share in provoking God to subject us 
to the horrors of the war. No; most sincerely do I confess 
that I have sinned enough, in all the relations I sustain, to 
have merited all I have suffered or may yet suffer. But I 
meant to say what even now I repeat, that I did everything 
in my power to prevent it (the war). 

"My opposition to secession was so decided and so pub- 
licly expressed, as to expose me to no little personal rudeness. 
A prominent member of my church took such offence at 
something I said from the pulpit, that he rose from his seat, 
and, in a very angry tone, loud enough to be heard by all 
who sat near him, denounced me. And on the next day I 



Prime Causes of the "Wab. 171 

was told that another man had said that I must and should 
be taught to behave better. 

"This occurred more than a year before the war began; 
and yet I never did behave any better; for as late as the 
15th of April, 1861, I made a speech to a crowd of Union 
men, advocating their views. On the following day Lin- 
coln's proclamation came, which I then regarded, and now 
regard, as a declaration of war. 

"Thus forced to fight, I claimed the poor right of choos- 
ing whom to fight. Necessity was laid upon me to rebel 
against him, or my native State. I chose the former, and 
became a rebel, but never a secessionist." 

"A sort of madness seemed to seize upon this people some 
thirty years ago, 1st, In regard to African slavery; and 
2nd, In regard to the unlimited extent and populousness 
of the country. 

"As to the first, the abolitionists contended that African 
slavery was in itself an unmitigated evil; or, as they were 
fond of expressing it, 'the sum of all abominations,' and 
should be repented of and abolished at once, regardless of 
all consequences both to the master and his slaves. 

"On the other hand, the secessionists contended not only 
that this relation was sanctioned by the word of God, but that 
it was in itself a great social, political and moral good, and 
as such ought to be perpetuated through all time and dis- 
seminated through all space. 

" Massachusetts was the mother of the former, and South 
.Carolina the mother of the latter heresy. By these extreme 
views the whole country was agitated, nay, torn into wrathful 
factions, and the halls of the national legislature became bat- 
tle-fields, not always bloodless. The two great political parties 
seized upon this negro question as one well fitted to be em- 
ployed for mere party purposes ; and as such it proved an 
instrument that bore down all opposition. 



172 Peime Causes of the War. 

"As to the second: The acquisition of territory and the ex- 
tension of the right of suffrage to every male citizen twenty- 
one years of age, weakened the centripetal and strength- 
ened the centrifugal forces in the political system. This 
evil was fearfully aggravated by the influx of vast hordes of 
ignorant foreigners clothed with the full powers of American 
citizens as soon as they set foot on our shores. At the rate 
of three hundred thousand per annum they poured into this 
country for some years prior to 1860. Ten thousand had 
been known to land in New York in two days. Of these 
every male became a qualified voter at twenty-one years of 
age. Chieny because of the negro population at the South 
this tide emptied itself wholly into the North and West. 
With such an ascendancy in numbers, all of whom were fired 
with jealous hatred of the educated and high-toned white 
population of the South, nothing but a miracle could have 
prevented the ruin that has come. 

"When the time came to strike, the people of the North 
found the constitution in their way. That constitution sanc- 
tioned African slavery in the South, gave the negro power 
at the ballot-box, secured autonomy to the States as sovereign 
over their own affairs. But all this was at once ignored. 
The negroes were emancipated and enlisted as soldiers by 
the thousand, and State sovereignty set aside as useless po- 
litical trumpery. Virginia, that had given several States to 
the Union, was cut in half, in cold blood, as though she had 
been so much public domain. She who had stood as a 
breakwater between the two sections, using every legitimate 
means to avert the civil war up to th^> last, who sent a peace 
commission to Washington, with an ex-president at its 
head, after the secession of some of the States, and who took 
up the gage of battle only because she could not bathe her 
sword in the blood of her natural allies, was drawn and 
quartered as though she had been the chief offender. 

"But I have wandered from my chief design. The war 



Prime Causes of the War. 173 

began in April, 1861. The community in which I live, and 
especially the church and congregation to which I minister, 
were strongly averse to war, and did all we could to prevent 
it. But when it was forced upon us, with a unanimity that 
could hardly be exceeded they resolved to meet the issue. 
Whatever may be said of other parts of the country, it is 
not true of this, that the people were drawn blindfolded into 
this sad work by the politicians. 

" It so happened that the great body of our leading politici- 
ans, I mean our most noisy and meddlesome politicians, sym- 
pathized with South Carolina, and had, all through the winter 
of 1860 and '61, striven to attach the people to her cause, 
but failed, utterly failed. Indeed, the civil war was very 
near beginning in the streets of Lexington on the 13th of 
April, 1861, between a handful of secessionists, urged on 
by some of the sort of politicians described above, and the 
mass of our private citizens. But for the intervention of 
Gen. TJiomas J. Jackson, blood would then have been shed, 
a fact but little known, yet worthy of lasting remembrance. 

"But what the politicians could not do, despotism could do, 
and did. We were not willing to join South Carolina, but 
we were still more unwilling to assist in violating the con- 
stitution by joining in a war of invasion waged upon a sov- 
ereign and independent State. It is well and personally 
known to me, that the entire mass of the men most active 
for the Union, in the commotion raised in our streets on 
the 13th, gave themselves to its overthrow on the 16th of 
April. Not an effort had been made, by speech or other- 
wise, to bring about this change. President Lincoln's mes- 
sage came, and this alone wrought the mighty change. 

"My own congregation and my own family became at 
once deeply involved in this mighty struggle. The invading 
forces were already on the march upon our northern border. 
Thirty-five communicants of my church and thirty members 
of my congregation, not communicants, were soon in the 



174 His Congregation in the War. 

ranks and on the weary march to meet the foe. Of the first 
"were two of my own sons, the oldest commanding and his 
younger brother a private in a volunteer company composed 
almost exclusively of the students of Washington College. ! 

"These sons were soon followed by our youngest, who 
entered the ranks of his brother's company when only six- 
teen and a half years old. This boy was soon followed by a 
fourth. The eldest of the four, after some hard fighting, 
was compelled by ill-health to resign his commission and re- 
tire from the service. The younger, who entered with him, 
became the captain of the company, and fell, instantly killed, 
August 30, 1862. The sketches of his life, referred to above, 
contain all that need be said of his career. 

"During the three years and seven months now spent in 
this war my church and congregation have furnished one 
hundred and six privates and officers. Of these, seventy- 
three were communicants, and thirty-three were not. Of 
the members of the church twelve have been killed, two 
have died of disease, and five disabled by wounds. Of the 
congregation six have been killed and three have died of 
disease. Total casualties, twenty-eight. 

"Members of the church killed are — 

Joshua Parks, William Page, 

J. B. McCorkle, William C. Preston, 

Henry Payne, William F. Cocke, 

D. G. Houston, Charles Nelson, 

Alphonzo Smith, Joseph Chester, 

Capt. H. A. White, Gen. T. J. Jackson. 

"Members of this church disabled by wounds are — 
Col. J. K. Edmondson (arm lost), Capt. Prank C. Wilson, 
Capt. Frank Preston (arm lost), Thomas D. Houston, 
E. K. Estill. 

1 See Sketches of the Life of Captain Hugh A. White, by his father, 
pp. 46-48. 



His Congregation in the War. 175 

"Members of the cliurch who died of disease are — 
Dr. Joseph McClung, Samuel M. Lightner. 

"Members of the congregation killed are — 

F. Davidson, Capt. M. X. White, 

George Chapin, Capt. Greenlee Davidson, 

William Patton, Gen. E. P. Paxton. 

" All these, with scarcely one exception, were men of irre- 
proachable character, and the large majority were men of 
the highest social position and moral worth. Their names 
are worthy of perpetual remembrance. Their vacant places 
in the house of God are sad remembrancers of our irrepara- 
ble loss. 

" The state of religion in the church since the war began 
has not been in all respects encouraging, and yet there has 
existed, and still exists, much to gratify its friends. During 
the first three months a daily prayer-meeting was well at- 
tended. This was afterwards held once a week. The sub- 
ject of prayer in all of these meetings was the deliverance 
of our country from her invaders and the return of peace. 
The places in our church made vacant by the absence of 
those in the army were more than supplied by the presence 
of refugees, which prevented any perceptible diminution in 
the size of our congregations on the Sabbath. Many very 
gratifying cases of conversion occurred among our young 
men in the army. These, from time to time, came home 
and were admitted to communion. 

" For a year or two after the opening of the war, a spirit of 
worldliness seemed to seize not a few of the members of the 
church. The fear of poverty, blending with both hatred 
and fear of the enemy, threatened seriously to lower the 
moral and religious tone of the church. Speculation ran 
high. Some who had been leaders in church work became 
languid and remiss. This is still too much the case. Yet 
our sufferino-s have not been without the sanctification of 



176 Effect on Currency. 

the Spirit. The currency has depreciated to such an extent, 
and the tenure by which all property is held has become so 
precarious, as to restrain some not under the influence of 
higher and purer motives. It seems to be the purpose of 
God to lessen the love of men for money by rendering it al- 
most valueless. 

'•' Gold is now worth thirty-fold as much as the government 
currency. And as everything offered for sale — even the 
most common necessaries of life — is held at specie value, 
prices are fabulous. I paid a year ago $690 for two hogs ; 
more recently I paid $2,000 for a very ordinary horse, and 
$10 per bushel for oats ; and am now asked $400 per ton for 
hay to feed him on. As two tons of hay and fifty bushels of 
oats would be a moderate supply for a horse for the winter 
and early spring, this will call for the sum of $1,300 to feed 
my $2,000 horse. Butter brings $6 per pound, and eggs $3 
per dozen. Boarders at our village hotel pay $-100 per 
month, or $4,800 per annum. Common English broadcloth 
brings $250 per yard, and an ordinary felt hat for a gentle- 
man $150. I have just hired for the ensuing year a very 
ordinary woman for my kitchen, fifty-five years of age, for 
$600, and must have one for the house at the same price. 
Firewood is $60 per cord. And yet every one, except those 
who live on fixed salaries, is living as well and cheaply as 
before the war. Producers purchase what they netd of 
merchants and others by paying in the produce of their 
farms at these enormous prices. One congregation in this 
vicinity pays its pastor one hundred and eighty barrels of 
flour, worth $45,000. This enormous sum is equivalent to 
his salary before the war of $1,000, or rather, the one hun- 
dred and eighty barrels of flour would have been worth be- 
fore the war $1,000. 

"I have passed through various stages of feeling since this 
war commenced. The anxiety and gloom were at first al- 
most intolerable. The vastly superior numbers and re- 



How he was Comforted. 177 

sources of the North, our own want of every element of 
strength, except intelligence and courage, our isolated con- 
dition from all the rest of the world, caused by the blockade 
of all our ports, made me very doubtful of success. When 
the Secretary of State, Mr. Wm. H. Seward, assured the 
governments of Europe that they would easily ' crush the 
rebellion in ninety days,' I partly believed him. . Through 
many a dark night I lay sleepless on my bed thinking of the 
mighty hosts they could pour into Virginia from North and 
Northwest. In this conviction I would think of my sons in 
the army, whose presence had always contributed to make 
my home so pleasant, of the hardships to wmich they were 
exposed, and the probability of their death. By such 
thoughts my peace of mind would be so utterly destroyed 
that relief could be found only in prayer. 

" But time, experience and a deepening conviction of the 
justice of our self-defence, and above all, the help and bless- 
ing of God, quieted anxiety and fear, gave me tranquillity 
and peace of mind, so that, for three years, I have habitu- 
ally slept soundly, and attended to my duties, bjth social 
and professional, with a high degree of satisfaction aud 
comfort. God has been a present help to me in trouble. 
Even in the death of my son, slain in battle, who was all 
that a son could be to his father and mother, I have had a 
very sweet experience of God's great goodness in giving him 
to us, in making him what he was, and in taking him to 
himself just when and as he did. I firmly believe that he 
had filled the allotted measure of his days, that he had ac- 
complished his mission, and answered the end of his being. 
He ardently desired to preach the gospel, but his will was 
to do and suffer the will of God. Of all the beautiful and 
truthful remarks recorded in his published life, none are 
more so than what he says to his mother on the forty-fourth 
page, viz. : 

"'God in his providence has permitted these afflictions to 
12 



178 His Son Falls in Battle. 

befall us ; and, my mother, if lie rides upon the storm, if he 
guides it to please himself and accomplish his own purposes, 
shall we murmur or repine % — shall we so magnify our wishes 
and plans as to shut him from our view ? What if our de- 
sires and purposes are thwarted and our happiness blasted, 
does this make him any the less wise or just or good? What 
if darkness, that may be felt, gathers over us, is it not all 
light with him? Could we catch a glimpse of God, and of 
the blessed purposes which he is carrying out, how soon we 
should wipe away our tears, blush to think of our murmur- 
ings, and run with glad hearts into his arms. You know 
how your children used to do. They might fret and cry 
when their plans were crossed, but when they found they 
had been wrong and you right, how gladly did they run to 
you, and love you all the more tenderly because you had in- 
terposed your better wisdom to control them. Thus should 
we all now do with our Heavenly Father. The issue of all 
this commotion is with him. He will certainly bring light 
out of this darkness and joy out of this sorrow. Weep- 
ing may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morn- 
ing.' 

"The remnant of my pilgrimage on earth is rendered far 
more lonely by his early death. But this remnant is brief, 
and its termination will bring me into joyful and never-end- 
ing communion with him and many others who have gone 
before." 

On the death of this son he wrote several letters, which 
we insert here, in whole or in part, to show the state of his 
mind at this time : 

To the Bev. Dr. Wm. Brown : 

" Lexington, Va., Sept. 6, 1862. 
"My Dear Brother: My son Hugh is in heaven. His 
body perished on the plains of Manassas, on the 30th of 



His Son Falls ln Battle. 179 

August — the scene of his heroic bravery more than a year 
ago. I can learn nothing of the particulars, except that he 
was killed instantly, General Jackson's adjutant-general 
writes merely this : ' Hugh was killed in the battle of Sat- 
turday. He fell gallantly leading his men. I sincerely 
sympathize with you in the loss of a son so faultless as a 
Christian and a soldier.' 

" This is all, but it is enough. I am thankful to God that 
I had so costly an offering, when called for, to lay on so 
sacred an altar. I am now more anxious than ever that the 
object for which he has sacrificed his precious life should 
be attained. . . . But his redeemed soul is safe, and I look 
up through my tears, and in that rejoice. 

" One of my kind friends, a lady of my church, wrote me 
a consolatory letter, in which she says, ' I sorrow with you 
in the loss of as noble a son as a parent could mourn for ; 
so modest and respectful, so kind and earnest and honor- 
able was he always, that the crowning gift of piety seemed 
only to add lustre to a character already so good that I 
could see nothing in it that needed to be corrected or re- 
formed. With everything to render him dear to you, a 
comfort as well as a pride, how sad, almost hard, it seems 
that he should be the one taken away. And yet, while you 
sorrow, you may rejoice that God has thus taken to himself 
the best you had to give. Oh ! how little of bitterness there 
is in giving back the good and pious to their Father and our 
Father in heaven !' 

" In Hugh's last letter he says : ' I feel more and more 
deeply that I must live altogether for God and in God.' 
My heart is so filled with sadness, and my eyes with 
tears, that I cannot write much. I accept what you say 
of living habitually in the service of God. This I have 
been endeavoring, though imperfectly, to do for forty-three 
years." 



180 The Negroes and the War. 

To the same : 

"Lexington, Va., Nov. 19, 1862. 

" My Dear Brother : I feel very sensibly the need of 

some communion with you, that my spirit may be refreshed. 

The times press heavily upon me, and my faith is feeble. I 

strive to look through the cloud, that I may find light above, 

• which I cannot find below. 

" It seems to me I miss my dear boy more and more. I 
miss him whenever I put on my overcoat, for at such times 
he always helped me. I miss him when I mount my horse, 
for even then he helped me. I miss him when I pray, for 
now I dare not pray for him. I shall miss him till I die, 
when I hope to meet him. 

" This hope makes the expectation of death pleasant, es- 
pecially when faith is vigorous. But alas ! my faith is often 
so feeble that even this hope affords me little comfort. This 
is all selfish, however, and I ought be ashamed of it. Help 
me, my brother, that I fall not." 

" The people of the North profess to seek the good of the 
negro in thus invading our soil. They seek the good of the 
black at the expense of the white race. They demand that 
they shall be emancipated and placed in a condition of 
equality with us — that the two races shall live socially and 
politically as one. To their emancipation I have no objec- 
tion, so far as the whites are concerned. Since I possessed 
sufficient intelligence to form a judgment in the case, I have 
been convinced that it would be a real good to the white 
man. The question is, what shall we do with him ? Can 
two races so different from each other possess the same 
country on terms of entire equality ? Must not the one or 
the other perish? The warmest philanthropy must pause 
before such a problem. 

"But in truth they have no special fondness for the 
negro. One of the most distinguished men in the State of 



The Negroes and the "War. 181 

Ohio said to a friend of mine, 'Only consent to wipe the 
blot of African slavery from oUr national escutcheon, and we 
shall have peace.' My friend replied, ' I have no objection 
to the emancipation of this people, but tell me how we 
can better their condition. "What shall we do with them V 
'Do with themf replied the kind-hearted philanthropist. 
' Do with them ? Why, hang them, shoot them, drown them. 
I care nothing for them ; only toipe out this blot.' 

" The mayor of Rochester, N. T., told me, in 1860 : 'About 
fifteen years ago we adopted measures designed to drive the 
negroes then here from our corporate limits, and to pre- 
vent others from coming. And they succeeded well. When 
those measures were first adopted every barber in the city 
was a black man. Now there is not one. Three-fourths of 
our cartmen and dray-drivers were negroes. Now the num- 
ber is very small. The truth is, sir, we do not like the 
negro. His presence is every way distasteful to us. We 
have three reasons for preferring white laborers to black, 
namely : 

" ' 1. The white man will do double the work in the same 
time. 

" ' 2. He will do it twice as well. 

" ' 3. He can live on one-half as much as the negro. 

" ' You know and like him ; you have room for him, and 
work suited to him, and I wish you to keep him.' 

"This man had sense, was candid, liberal, just and gen- 
erous ; • so I replied, ' Only prevail on your politicians to 
adopt your sentiments, and all danger of disunion and war is 
over. We are perfectly willing to bear the responsibility in 
the sight of God of holding them in their present condition 
until we can prepare them for a better.' 

" But I have no heart to enlarge upon a theme so hack- 
neyed, so misunderstood, and so misrepresented. I thank 
God that their conduct and condition in my congregation 
have steadily and rapidiy improved since the commencement 



r 



182 No Peace in the South for Thirty-five Years. 

of the war. During this time there has been less vagrancy 
and insubordination than ever before. They seem to appre- 
ciate their dependence and their obligation to their owners 
as they never did. 

"I have not yet abandoned the hope that God has some- 
thing better in store for these people than their abandon- 
ment to the tender mercies of false philanthropists. Still, 
we have greatly sinned in our neglect of their instruction. 

" This neglect is not because of any want of humanity, or 
even of true affection for the race. There are monsters in 
human form everywhere. In all lands there are husbands 
and fathers who maltreat their wives and children. So 
there are masters among us who maltreat their slaves. But 
the prevailing spirit is one of great kindness, showing itself 
in innumerable ways. Their mutual dependence begets 
mutual attachment. I could fill volumes with incidents, oc- 
curring under my own eyes, illustrating this statement ; but 
I write for my own people, especially my own children, and 
not for the abolitionists. 

" The truth is, there has been no true peace in this country 
for about thirty-five years. About the year 1830 the pur- 
pose was fully formed at the North either to abolish slavery 
in the South or to exterminate the white race. To this end 
they formed extensive combinations; raised large sums of 
money ; sent out emissaries; issued books, pamphlets, news- 
papers, false and bitter. They spared neither pains nor 
money to rouse the blacks to insurrection and bloodshed. 

In the summer of 1830 they succeeded in a small section 
of Southampton county, Va. Urged on by one of their 
emissaries, inflamed by their incendiary publications, a few 
were induced to attempt the extermination of the whites. 
In one small section they succeeded in slaughtering some 
seventy persons, chiefly old men, women and children. 
The dastardly Yankee preacher who had been chiefly in- 
strumental in exciting this insurrection made his escape 



John Brown's Invasion. 183 

under the cover of night, and the insurgents were soon van- 
quished." 

[Mr. White was living and preaching the gospel in that 
part of Virginia at that time, and writes from observation. 
We have often heard him relate orally some of the most 
thrilling events of that insurrection.] 

" The South was thus and then thrown on the defensive. 
Stringent laws were enacted, which would never have been 
thought of but for the purpose of a necessary self-defence, 
and for which we of the South incurred the reprobation of 
the North. The negro was restricted in his privileges, and 
the vagrant Yankees who prowled through every part of our 
country, impelled by avarice, ambition or malice, were sub- 
jected to no little severity, which was richly deserved. For 
almost thirty years this sort of war raged with a constantly 
increasing violence. The halls of Congress were the scene 
of many angry and shameful collisions. Civil courts and 
church courts were at times thrown into a state of conf asion 
by the introduction of this question. Much blood was shed 
by the opposing parties in the newly settled portions of our 
country — the one disputing and the other contending for his 
right to hold slaves in the territories. 

"At length, in 1859, a diabolical scheme to murder the 
whites and liberate the blacks was put in execution by one 
John Brown on the border line between Virginia and Mary- 
land, at Harper's Ferry. He had been preparing for this 
outbreak by importing arms in large quantities into a deso- 
late valley on the Maryland side, beyond the river, and op- 
posite the Ferry, where he had been living secretly for many 
months. Besides army rifles of the most approved pattern, 
he had many boxes of pikes — a blood-curdling weapon to look 
at — consisting of a wooden shaft, from ten to fourteen feet 
long, with a flat, pointed, steel head, long enough to impale 
a human body of ordinary size, and a guard to prevent its 
penetrating the bed on which the sleeper lay, so as to be 



184 John Brown's Invasion. 

difficult of extraction. At the dead hour of the night the 
negroes were to be armed with these instruments, set to 
work murdering their masters and mistresses, marching 
southward, and receiving recruits as they advanced into the 
country. A more cold-blooded and atrocious plot of the great- 
est magnitude never entered the brain of man or demon. 

"Of course it failed. The emissaries whom Brown had 
sent before into Virginia, ostensibly engaged in different 
lawful callings, yet really paid to excite the negroes to insur- 
rection and prepare them for his coming, failed in their mis- 
sion. The negroes suspected their intentions, and refused 
to enlist. When Brown entered the Ferry, and began his 
work of burning and blood -shedding, the whites rose in 
arms, surrounded and forced him and his band into a small 
brick house, and kept him at bay until a posse of men from 
the regular army of the United States, commanded by Cap- 
tain — afterwards the renowned General — Robert E. Lee, 
arrived on the ground, arrested and turned him over to the 
authorities of the State of Virginia, by whom he and several 
of his associates, after due trial befoie the law, were hanged. 

"From even this very brief outline of the warfare waged 
upon us for about thirty years, it is not difficult to see why 
our rulers deemed it indispensable to impose restrictions, 
both on masters and servants, which seriously interfered 
with the duties of the former and the privileges of the 
latter. 

"Previous to the inauguration of this state of things, 
servants were taught to read, colored men were licensed to 
preach the gospel, and became pastors of congregations 
of their own race; the marriage and parental relations 
were respected; they lived in families, had family worship, 
were not only permitted, but urged to train their children 
and govern their households according to the word of God. 
When a boy I often attended family worship held in the 
houses of my father's servants and of other servants in our 



General David Hunter. 185 

aeigliborhood. Then the white and colored races were 
friends ; they respected, confided in and loved each other. 

"But in an evil hour the tempter came, and the scene 
was changed. If we had been let alone the condition of the 
negro would have steadily improved; public sentiment would 
have turned decisively in favor of a gradual emancipation 
under the influence of the most sagacious minds in the State, 
who, in public speeches and pamphlets, were already advo- 
cating it. 

"During this war, which is now near the close of its fourth 
year, the negroes have remained faithful to their owners, 
except in portions of the country overrun by the enemy. As 
a race they are very credulous. Where the master has been 
forced to flee for his life before the foe, leaving his home in 
flames and his family impoverished, the negro, believing his 
pretended friends, has gone off with them. In this way 
some sections of our State have beea almost depopulated of 
both the white and the black man. 

"In June, 18G4, the enemy, twenty thousand strong, en- 
tered the quiet village of Lexington. General David Hun- 
ter was in command, a man whose notoriety among our peo- 
ple made him terrible to the timid and detestable to all. He 
seemed to riot in the alarm excited by his presence among 
women and children. In two cases, when respectfully ap- 
plied to in person by ladies of the highest refinement and 
greatest prudence, for some protection against his ruffian 
troops, who were tramping through their houses, destroying 
or bearing off their food and furniture, not leaving the ap- 
parel and bedding of their infant children, he replied to one 
of these ladies with a brutality that would have disgraced 
a savage: 'These are the natural consequences of war, and 
you must bear them as best you can.' To the other he said: 
* I know your father and brothers ; look to them to protect you. ' 

" Thus encouraged, the work of ruin went on, especially 
in the houses of these two ladies, until scarcely a morsel, and, 



186 The Sacking of Lexington. 

in one, not a morsel of food was left, and scarcely an article 
of apparel or bed-covering was left. Several other families 
in the part of the town more immediately under his com- 
mand suffered nearly as much. 

"By the special order of this commanding officer the Sab- 
bath day was spent in first robbing and then burning the 
residence of Governor Letcher, the beautiful residences of 
two of the professors of the Virginia Military Institute, the 
spacious and tasteful barracks of the Institute, a large flour 
mill belonging to a peaceful citizen, besides the large ware- 
house owned by the State of Virginia. 

" The Institute was robbed of its library, containing many 
rare and costly volumes, of its splendid paintings, and last, 
of a bronze statue of General Washington, a copy of that in 
the Capitol at Eichmond, the pride of the State. 

"The splendid residence of the Superintendent of the In- 
stitute escaped destruction, in consequence of the extreme 
illness of his married daughter ; and this residence is now 
all that remains of that once beautiful establishment — bar- 
racks, professors' houses, mess hall, hospital, and offices, are 
all in ashes. 

"Washington College, endowed by 'the father of his 
country,' was sacked, its library and paintings carried off, 
the rich and costly furniture of its public rooms either given 
to the negroes or carried as trophies to the North ; nearly 
every pane of glass in it was broken, and all needful prepa- 
ration made for its burning, which was prevented only by 
the expostulations of a gray -haired trustee. 

"I omitted to state that they shelled the town before en- 
tering it. Twenty houses were struck, some of which were 
seriously damaged, and two were ignited, but the fire was 
extinguished. Six shells passed over the parsonage, one 
exploded in the garden, and one in the stable-yard. But 
not a person was struck. Many very narrowly escaped. 

" They robbed me of corn and hay worth $500. They cut 



Generai j Averill. 187 

the curtains from my carriage, and carried off a portion of 
the harness. A well-dressed and well-mounted captain and 
lieutenant attempted to rob me of my carriage and harness, 
but were prevented by the sergeant appointed by General 
Averill to guard my premises. Last of all, they robbed me 
of my favorite horse, 'Charley,' one I had used under the 
saddle for nine years — a horse almost as well known through 
the county of Rockbridge as his owner. A faithful servant 
plead with the robbers not to take 'old Charley ' from 'mas- 
ter,' urging that both were old and lame, and that Charley 
could not be of much use to them. But the pleadings were 
all in vain. It is not wonderful that my good servant, John, 
should close his account of his efforts to save Charley by 
saying, 'Master, these Yankees are the beat of all the 
rogues I ever saw, black or white.' 

"General Averill, commanding the Federal cavalry, acted 
like a gentleman. He made every practicable effort to check 
the robbers of private property. He stationed a guard at 
every house where it was asked in his district, and punished 
severely in my presence several men brought before him on 
a charge of spoiling private houses. It is very rare that I at- 
tempt to prophecy either on high or low themes, but I did 
say repeatedly during the three days of army rule in Lex- 
ington, ' Averill is altogether too much of a gentleman to be 
permitted to hold a command very long under such a supe- 
rior as the brutal Hunter.' And so it came to pass. In 
about two months from the time of their visit to us he was 
relieved of his command. Notwithstanding, the opinion was 
very general, both in their army and our's, that he was the 
best cavalry commander they had. 

"I moved freely among their officers and privates. In no 
instance did I meet with personal insult. On the whole, 
they were respectful and polite. In my first interview with 
General Averill I told him politely, but firmly, that my prin- 
ciples and sympathies were all with my native South; to 



188 Federal Occupation of Lexington. 

which he promptly replied, ' I am not surprised to hear you 
say that.' 

"I scrupulously avoided all general conversation, especi- 
ally on the war, or anything connected with it. My inter- 
course had respect wholly to securing guards for defenceless ' 
families. 

"It was very obvious that there were several distinct 
parties in their army, differiDg widely in their principles, and 
much embittered towards each other in spirit. Some com- 
prehended and appreciated in some degree our position. 
Many gave unmistakable proof, not only of a want of true 
sympathy with the negro, but of strong hostility towards 
him. The general and his staff were well supplied with 
these people as body servants, and the exactions they made 
upon them, both in the way of personal attention and actual 
labor, far exceeded anything to which we Virginians had 
been accustomed. The remark was often made by officers 
in my yard, ' I am not fighting for the negro. I would as 
soon shoot a negro as a rebel.' Such men dissuaded the 
negroes from going with them. 

" On the other hand, many had no other idea of the war 
than that it was fomented and prosecuted exclusively to 
free the negroes, put them in possession of the homes and 
property, and make them in all respects the equals of the 
whites. 

"And yet again there were many, especially foreigners, 
who were fighting only for present compensation and the 
prospective possession of our farms. 

"There was every grade of intellect and character among 
them, from the gentleman and scholar down. Perhaps, as 
a whole, they are shrewder than the mass of our army. 
But, on the score of amiability and kindly conduct, good 
taste and good manners, as far as my observation has gone, 
their common soldiers are immeasurably below ours. This 
is true also of some holding office. The most unmitigated 



Federal Occupation of Lexington. 189 

ruffian I ever encountered in human shape was a man 
named Berry, captain of the provost guard, who at the be- 
ginning of the war, as I learned from a member of Averill's 
staff, was a common Irish hackman in Baltimore. A recital 
of his brutalities would be too offensive to good taste, and 
too painful to the better feelings of our nature for record 
here. Sooner or later he will receive his reward. 

"I was several times compelled to move through large and 
densely crowded portions of their encampment, even on the 
Sabbath day ; and I record with astonishment and pain the 
fact that I never saw or heard of a chaplain, nor could I dis- 
cover that a hymn was sung, a prayer offered, or any form 
of worship observed through all that holy day. All, too, 
were idle, except the very small number deemed necessary 
to rob and burn the public buildings — all of which was 
done on the Sabbath. 

"I asked one of their majors if they had no chaplains. 
He replied, ' O yes, we have a great many ; almost one to 
every regiment.' I answered, 'I am astonished then that 
you have no worship to-day.' He replied, 'Our chaplains 
are not of much account. They seldom or never preach. I 
have not heard a sermon, or even a prayer, for many months.' 

" After they left, I heard of three or four chaplains who 
inquired of some of the ladies of my congregation for me; 
said they knew me, had met me at the North, etc. One of 
these seemed to be enjoying himself at 9 o'clock on Sabbath 
morning, standing near and looking at the flames as they 
consumed the private residence of Governor Letcher, while 
Mrs. Letcher and her children were sitting on some trunks 
which, with their own hands and with great difficulty, they 
had rescued from the flames. This man said to a daughter 
of Governor Letcher, 'I know Dr. White pretty well, and 
have thought of calling at his house to see him; but, as I 
learn he is a very warm Southern man, I have concluded not 
to do so.' All of them seemed afraid to encounter 'a warm 



190 Fedeeal Occupation of Lexington. 

Southern man,' as none of them sought my acquaintance or 
paid me a respectful call. 

"I omitted to state in the proper place, that General 
Averill made his headquarters in my yard, within forty feet 
of my study door, and his signal corps encamped in my 
garden. This was a great protection to my dwelling and 
other houses in the yard, but this protection did not extend, 
as I have already stated, to my carriage-house, stable and 
granery. 

" On the whole, with the exception of the buildings burned 
and the robberies inflicted on the store-rooms and wardrobes 
of many families, the damage was as slight as could have 
been expected from a hostile army of twenty thousand men 
encamped for three days in and immediately around a vil- 
lage of twenty-five hundred inhabitants. May it please God 
soon to terminate this cruel and unnatural war. 

" Such are my vieAvs of the folly, weakness and depravity 
of men, that my expectation of good from any form of 
government are faint. I am not, nor ever have been, a 
secessionist. Yet, when a party was formed at the North, 
which became large enough to get the government into its 
hands, which did not scruple to sanction the nullification of 
laws of the national Congress, and which forbade to the South 
rights of property in the territories guaranteed by the consti- 
tution, whose executive called for Virginia bayonets to impale 
the bodies of our nearest neighbors and dearest friends, 
the time for rebellion with a view to revolution seemed to 
me to have come. I wish, therefore, my children to know 
that their father was not a secessionist, but a rebel, an hon- 
est, earnest rebel. As such he has suffered much and may suf- 
fer more. Of this he does not complain. If it should please 
God to frown upon the effort to resist such injustice, and to 
subject us to still greater sufferings, nay, even to subju- 
gation and death, he may do no more than he may justly 
claim. Thus has he dealt in other lands and ages, with na- 



Demoralization. 191 

tions nearer and dearer to him than we can claim to be. 
Though my portion should be povert} r , imprisonment and 
death, I hope to be able to say with a tranquil spirit, ' Not 
my will, but thine, be done.' 

" For myself, by the help of God, I can live happily and 
die peacefully under any form of civil government. Paul 
and Silas in the jail at Philippi, with their feet and hands in 
the stocks, under the iron despotism of Nero, were prayer- 
ful and joyous. Our blessed Lord himself had his birth, 
grew to maturity, and laid the foundation of his church, in 
equally troublous times. Why cannot we, the citizens of 'a 
kingdom which cannot be moved,' carry forward the work 
they began with equal joyousness and alacrity ? 

" The whole country seems to be sinking into a state of 
demoralization. At no time during a ministry of thirty- 
eight years have I known so much sensual gaiety among pro- 
fessedly pious people, so much drinking of intoxicating 
liquors, and so free a participation in promiscuous dancing. 
The present winter of 1864-'5 has been equally character- 
ized by suffering and sin. Scarcely a family can be found 
in which death has not recently made inroad. Many families 
are very scarcely supplied with the commonest comforts. An 
aged widow told me recently that all the corn she had on 
which to sustain a family of eight members amounted to ten 
bushels, for which she had paid five hundred dollars. And 
yet at no period since the settlement of this Valley have 
there been, in the same length of time, as many gay assem- 
blies. Crowds of young people pass from house to house, 
with little to eat and less to wear, and spend the entire night 
in dancing and revelry. Sorrow and suffering in themselves 
uniformly make bad people worse. ' The sorrow of the 
world worketh death.' This is divinely true. The state of 
things is far worse in other sections. 

"Meantime the dangers and suffering of our people, the 
probability of our subjugation by our enemies, increase 



192 Demoralization. 

daily. Five or six of our most important cities and towns 
have been evacuated by us and occupied by the enemy with- 
in the last few weeks. Just now a force is approaching us 
which we have not the means of resisting, even for an hour, 
and the strong probability is, not to say certainty, that our 
lovely valley will be wholly in their possession in a very 
short time. And yet the people revel with almost frenzied 
excess. We are told that the people ate, drank, married 
wives, and were given in marriage until Noah entered the 
ark, and the flood came and took them all away. I have al- 
ways thought this was a modest and delicate way of stating 
that they continued their social revelry, their feasting and 
dancing, until the flood actually came, and have sometimes 
felt a childish curiosity to know whether they discontinued 
their sport on the hills when the valleys had been sub- 
merged. 

" A redeeming feature in the case is the readiness with 
which the people contribute to the support of chaplains in the 
army. With a few months past more than twenty thousand 
dollars has been paid into my hands for this purpose by the 
churches of Lexington Presbytery — an average of eight hun- 
dred and seventy dollars to a church. 

" The gaiety of our people in the midst of suffering re- 
minds me of a paragraph in Walter Scott's Review of the 
French Revolution. After the execution of Robespierre 
and the overthrow of the Jacobin party, Scott says : ' Society 
began to resume its ordinary course, and business and 
pleasure succeeded each other as usual. But even social 
pleasures brought with them strange and gloomy associa- 
tions with that valley of the shadow of death through which 
the late pilgrimage of France appeared to have been lain. 
An assembly for dancing, very much frequented by the 
young of both sexes and highly fashionable, was called ' the 
Ball of the Victims.' The qualification for attendance was 
the having lost some near and valued relation or friend in 



Consolation. 193 

the late Reign of Terror. The hair and head-dress were so 
arranged as to resemble the preparations made for the guil- 
lotine, and the motto adopted was "We dance amidst tombs." 
In no country but France could the incidents have taken 
place which gave rise to this association, and certainly in no 
country but France would they have been used for such a 
purpose.' 

" This occurred soon after the massacre in which ten 
thousand of the best citizens of Paris perished from the 
pikes, sabres and clubs of assassins within a space of three 
days, in addition to the thousands who perished on the guil- 
lotine. Scott wrote long before our time, or he might have 
coupled us with France. 

" The capital of Virginia and the Confederacy has been 
evacuated, and the enemy has taken possession of it. The 
officials, both of the State and Confederate governments, have 
fled, and the reasonable presumption is that our army, now 
some fifty miles from Richmond, will either capitulate or 
evacuate the State. Anarchy begins to prevail, and danger 
and suffering increase with almost every passing hour The 
brief view I take, by which my mind is kept calm and tran- 
quil, may be thus stated : 

"1. God can deliver us from our enemies if he will. 

"2. If he does not, it will be best that he should not. 

"3. And if he does not, then the people of God have 
greatly the advantage of those who are not his people. God 
only knows what is really and permanently best for us, and 
both his justice and mercy concur in assuring us that he will 
order or permit only what is best. 

" My greatest concern by far is for my two sons now in 
our army, especially the younger of the two, who is the 
youngest of my children, and of whose spiritual safety I 
have no assurance, not even a well-grounded hope. I can 
only say, God of the covenant, fulfil thy promise to be a God 
to thy people and their seed. Hearer of prayer, hear me. 
13 



194 Concern for his Son. 

This dear boy was brought home late in last November 
badly wounded. He had gone ahead of his regiment with 
only one companion, when they were fired upon by the enemy 
at the distance of one hundred yards. His companion was 
instantly killed and he wounded. His clothes were pierced 
by seven balls. One passed through the calf of his left leg. 
This was at Rood's Hill, Shenandoah county, Va. 

" The fondest hopes of his parents and friends were that 
so signal an escape from death would result in a change of 
heart. But he recovered and returned to the army without 
giving any evidence of conversion. All I know now is that 
he has been in some very hard fighting within the last few 
days. Whether he has escaped, been wounded, captured or 
slain, is yet to be learned. The anguish of such suspense 
no language can express. And yet I hope that my faith in 
the covenant is firm. I am not without comfort. God will 
undoubtedly do what is wisest and best, and to know and 
believe this ought to be enough. And, then, this dear boy has 
been the object of concerted prayer by parents, brothers, 
sisters and friends for many years. Shall not some of these 
prayers be answered ? I think they will. 

"The tendency of human nature to extremes in their 
opinions and feelings was never so apparent to me as at 
present. The large majority tend strongly to presumption 
or despair. The former seem to have no doubt, the latter 
no hope of success. Reverses do not dispirit the former, 
nor do successes cheer the latter. Neither can explain very 
satisfactorily the grounds of their hopes or fears, and it is 
difficult to decide which is the more unhappy of the two. 

" They who were original and active secessionists belong 
chiefly to the former class. They made so many prophecies 
that have not been fulfilled, one would think some suspicion 
of their fallibility would be forced upon them. But it seems 
not. Although gold is now worth sixty-five dollars for one 
in Confederate money, flour twelve hundred dollars a barrel, 



Haed Times. 195 

bacon ten dollars a pound; although, a poor preacher had to 
pay four thousand seven hundred dollars for a very ordinary 
horse and cow, still they have no doubt but that our cur- 
rency will soon be as good as gold, and the said horse and 
cow sell for a hundred and fifty dollars. In many cases it 
taxes charity very heavily to give such people credit for sin- 
cerity. But many, I have no doubt, are thoroughly sincere. 
' The wish is father to the thought.' They belong to that 
class who are described by the poet in the familiar hues — ■ 
' 'Hope springs eternal in the human breast; 
Man never is, but always to be blest. ' 

The latter class see ruin in every bush and hear it in every 
sound. They were never well-informed as to the origin of 
the war, and could never see sufficient cause for it. When 
once commenced, and especially when our enemies became 
our invaders, they warmly espoused resistance for self-de- 
fence. Nor did they so much oppose the enemy for what 
they did, as for doing it without constitutional warrant. 
They would have favored the adoption of a constitution 
authorizing all that had been done, but were offended be- 
cause the enemy first adopted unconstitutional measures, 
and then altered the constitution so as to bring their mea- 
sures into harmony with it. These persons felt themselves 
forced by the Washington cabinet to rebel either against 
State or national authority, and they chose the latter. 

"Virginia, as a border State, having the District of Co- 
lumbia and the national capital on its boundary, at once be- 
came the battle-ground of the war; and although victory 
often perched upon our banner, although the invaders were 
often driven from our borders in the wildest confusion and 
with appalling loss of life, yet, by reason of their superior 
numbers, after four years of desperate fighting, they have 
succeeded in getting possession of much the larger part of 
our territory, including many of our principal cities and 
towns. Large portions of our richest and most highly-culti- 



196 Hard Times. 

vated lands have been swept as with the besom of destruc- 
tion. Our finest dwellings, with their out-buildings, our 
mills and churches, have been reduced to ashes. One may 
travel for miles through what was once our most populous 
and prosperous sections without seeing a human habitation 
or a living thing Such ravages have filled the minds 
and hearts of those just described with thoughts and feel- 
ings too sad to be borne without some animosity. And 
when to all this is added the fact that few, very few, homes 
can be found in which there was one or more of suitable age 
to enter the army out of which one or more has not perished 
in the conflict, then it is not surprising if many despond 
and some despair. Several of my own acquaintance have 
become hopelessly insane, and some have unquestionably 
died of a broken heart. 

" Pressing demands have been made upon every pastor, 
as well as upon other Christian friends, for consolation for 
such. In some places, especially in the larger cities, the 
preaching has been too much of a war-like nature Minis- 
ters of the gospel, in some cases, have erred in thinking they 
were called to rouse the people to a sterner and fiercer spirit 
of resistance. But the great majority have abstained from 
such a course. ' Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,' has 
been the voice chiefly heard from the pulpit, and to the great 
mass of God's own people this has been a welcome message. 

" An intelligent lady said to me yesterday, in deep dis- 
tress, ' It seems to me I have no faith at all. I certainly 
have not enough to determine whether the Lord is on our 
side in this war or on that of the enemy.' I replied that we 
had no warrant to decide such a question by faith. The 
Scriptures tell us that 'faith cometh by heariug, and hear- 
ing by the word of God.' Now, the word of God gives us 
no information on this question. We can have no scriptural 
faith on the subject. But this word is full of instruction 
that appeals directly to our faith. For example, ' The Lord 



Anxiety. 197 

God omnipotent reigneth ;' ' The very hairs of your head are 
all numbered ;' ' A sparrow shall not fall to the ground with- 
out your Father ;' and ' All things work together for good 
to them that love God.' If you have no faith in these words 
your condition is deplorable indeed. If you have, then you 
may be comforted, come what may. This simple view 
seemed to quiet her mind. 

" One has said, 'If the thing prayed for is not in the pro- 
mise, it is a sin to ask for it, and if it is, then it is a sin not 
to expect it.' Faith accepts as true, really, unalterably, 
eternally true, what God has said, and this not because it 
seems reasonable to us, but simply and solely because God 
has said it. 

" April 10, 1865. Tidings have just come that in a battle 
on the 2nd instant our youngest son was captured. We 
know nothing more. How taken, or where he is confined, 
we know not. From him we have not a note or message. 
Nor is it likely that we shall for many a weary day. ' Be 
anxious for nothing.' And yet anxious I am. The whole 
of my brief remnant of this mortal life must be full of earthly 
sorrow. But comfort in God may abound. For this I fer- 
vently pray. 

" Of our elder son no tidings whatever have been received. 
For his safety I am anxious. G.xl of the covenant, help 
and deliver thy servant. 

" April 15. Both of our sons have reached home in safety. 
The younger escaped as by a miracle. Surely God's good- 
ness calls for our warmest gratitude and praise. 

" Our brave and honored army, overborne by vastly su- 
perior numbers and utterly exhausted by continued march- 
ing and fighting without food or rest, has been compelled to 
surrender. Our capital and commonwealth are now under 
the heel of our enemy. Scarcely a doubt exists that we are 
to be a subjugated people, ruined as to all political power, 
and sorely straitened for a time for the necessaries of 



198 End of the War. 

life. But these things are not paramount. We have other 
relations than political. I am a husband, father, minister 
of the gospel, as well as citizen of the State. If our social 
and religious privileges are not denied us we can endure all 
else. One may be good, useful and happy under any form 
of government, provided the mind and conscience be free. 
True religion has prospered under all forms of civil govern- 
ment. Our blessed Lord can surely do more to make his 
people permanently happy than men and devils can to make 
them miserable. Though persecuted, we will not be for- 
saken ; though cast down, we will not be destroyed. 

"God's purposes are hidden from mortal sight, but I rest 
calmly in the belief that these purposes will move steadily 
on to wise and beneficent results. 

"The fearful struggle of four years has ended. The 
work of carnage and death is over. Forced back into a po- 
sition from which we sought to escape, the mortified victims 
of a power we have hated, I bow reverently to God. Ac- 
knowledging the obligation wisely imposed by his word, I 
submit to ' the powers that be,' because they ' are ordained 
of God.' I make no further record of these sad times, ex- 
cept to express my deep and painful apprehensions for the 
future destiny of the negro and of my own descendants. 
The former will probably waste away before the superior 
power of the whites. The latter will be, I fear, by a slow 
process, amalgamated with their conquerors, until they cease 
to be recognized and applauded for the noble traits that 
have hitherto distinguished them. 

"For myself, now at the age of sixty -five years, with 
many physical infirmities, there remains but little, very 
little, of earthly ill to fear or of earthly good to expect. 
The time of my discharge is near, and through the grace 
of God abounding in the Lord Jesus Christ, I have a very 
comfortable hope that, when the time of my departure shall 
come, I will be enabled t j say, with the apostle, ' I have 



End of the War. 199 

fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept 
the faith ; henceforth there is laid up for rne a crown of 
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall 
give me at that day ; and not to me only, but unto all them 
also that love his appearing.' " 



CHAPTER XIII 

1861-1865. 
The Strife Before the War. 

WHEN Dr. White says, "The truth is, there has been no 
true peace in this country for about thirty-five years," 
he is supported by facts well known in the South in his 
time, and brought to light in every reliable history of the 
abolition movement in this country. The sentiment of abo- 
lition did not originate in the North, as the ill-informed 
suppose, but in the South. 

The first newspaper published in this country, whose one 
avowed object was opposition to slavery, was edited by Elihu 
Embree, in Jonesborough, Tennessee, under the style of 
The Manumission Intelligencer. True, Mr. Embree was a 
New Jerseyman, but the supporters of his paper were 
Southern people. Its issue began in March, 1819. From 
the same source, in 1820, an octavo monthly began its career, 
under the title of The Emancipator. 

The doctrine of these papers was gradual emancipation by 
the States. Not until September 2, 1829, did William Lloyd 
Garrison issue The Genius of Universal Emancipation, in 
which, for the first time, the policy of immediate and forci- 
ble abolition by the general government was advocated, and 
which in time became The Liberator} 

The first societies in this country organized to spread this 
sentiment took their rise in Tennessee and North Caro- 
lina. As early as 1825 these two States were covered over 

1 See the Life of W. Lloyd Garrison, Vol. I., p. 141. The Cen- 
tury Co. 1885. 

200 



The Strife Before the War. 201 

wdth them, and gradual emancipation was the sentiment of 
the great majority. 

The legislation in the border Southern States was mov- 
ing strongly in this direction at a very early day. In 1821-2, 
Mr. Faulkner introduced a bill into the House of Delegates 
of Virginia, favoring a scheme of gradual emancipation. In 
the discussion of this bill, Mr. Moore characterized slavery 
as a "curse" — "the heaviest calamity which has ever be- 
fallen any portion of the human race;" he spoke of its irre- 
sistible tendency to undermine and destroy everything like 
virtue and morality in the community ; of its disastrous ef- 
fects on the general prosperity by making agriculture degrad- 
ing for the whites ; of its check upon population, and its 
danger in case of invasion. 

This speech was endorsed by the Richmond Enquirer ; 
and the Whig, commenting on it, asked, "What is the ques- 
tion of who shall be president — of banks, of roads, and 
canals, of tariffs — to this!" 1 

In this same debate Mr. Broadnax boldly asked, " Is there 
one man in Virginia who does not lament that there ever 
was a slave in the State ?" 

In their fifteenth annual report (1832) the American Col- 
onization Society speak of the "great movement " then going 
on in Maryland and Virginia. 2 

Probably the most noted political pamphlet ever published 
in Virginia was the Ruffner Pamphlet, which advocated 
gradual emancipation from an economic view of the subject. 
This pamphlet was signed by some of the most distinguished 
men of the State, and reflected a. sentiment that had been 
growing from colonial times. 3 

Thus we see that the movement was going forward with 
great force when the counter movement of forcible and im- 

1 See Niks' Register, January 21, 1832, p. 378, quoted in the Life 
of W. Lloyd Garrison, Vol. I., pp. 251-2. The Century Co. 1885. 

2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. 



202 The Strife Before the War. 

mediate abolition by the general government was initiated* 
On this doctrine the abolition party was formed. It spread 
with great rapidity. Their organization was extended "at 
the rate of nearly one new society a day." l 

State societies were formed ; newspapers published ; books 
and tracts, stigmatizing slaveholders with the most oppro- 
brious epithets, scattered broadcast over the land; wood-cuts 
of the most horrible kind were secretly put into the hands 
of the blacks, as Senator Benton said in 1835, "to inflame 
the passions of the slaves." 2 

So wide-spread was the circulation of these incendiary pub- 
lications, arid so dangerous their tendency to incite insurrec- 
tion among the slaves, that President Andrew Jackson, in his 
Message to Congress, December 7, 1835, introduced the sub- 
ject, suggesting "the propriety of passing such a law as will 
prohibit, under severe penalties, the circulation in the South- 
ern States, through the mail, of incendiary publications in- 
tended to instigate the slaves to insurrection." In this same 
year Mr. John C. Calhoun introduced in Congress a bill 
making it a penal offence for postmasters " knowingly to de- 
liver to any person whatever any pamphlet, newspaper, 
handbill, or other printed paper or pictorial representation, 
touching the subject of slavery, where, by the laws of said 
State, district, or territory, their circulation was prohibited." 3 

The abolitionists, moreover, invaded the South with school- 
masters and school-mistresses, who secretly fanned the flame 
of insurrection among the negroes, and with travelling ven- 
ders of different articles of merchandise, who did likewise. 

In these and numerous other ways insurrections were ac- 
tually excited in the South, in one of which, in Southamp- 
ton county, Virginia, August, 1831, fifty-five whites were 
murdered outright. As Dr. White says, this was the work 

1 Life ofW. Lloyd Garrison, Vol. II., p. 79. 

2 Thirty Years' View, i., 577. 

3 Ibid, i., 586 ; Life of W. Lloyd Garrison, Vol. L, p. 232. 



The Strife Before the "War. 203 

chiefly of a Yankee school-master; and John Brown's right- 
hand man, John E. Cook, was also a school-master in Vir- 
ginia while preparing for that insurrection. 

Not content with all this mischief-making at home, the 
abolitionists strove to excite the animosity of Europeans 
against the South, and succeeded in rendering slaveholders 
a by- word and a hissing in many countries. They even at- 
tempted to prevail on the Free Church of Scotland to de- 
clare slaveholding a ground of exclusion from the sacraments 
of the church, which Dr. Chalmers characterized as a " new and 
factious principle of administration, for which she can see no 
authority in Scripture, and of which she can gather no traces 
in the history or practice of the churches in apostolic times." ! 

Of course the Southern people resented all this. The 
work of gradual emancipation by the States, which was popu- 
lar throughout the South, and was landing emigrants in 
Liberia by the hundreds, was suddenly arrested: the news- 
papers took the matter in hand ; books and pamphlets were 
written mass-meetings were held to denounce abolitionism ; 
platform speeches were made; vigilance committees organ- 
ized to keep a lookout for dangerous emissaries ; bills passed 
by legislatures to prevent the circulation of seditious writ- 
ings ; the help of Congress invoked, as we have seen, and 
the supreme court appealed to. 

And so a war of words raged throughout North and South 
on the lines of public travel, in public houses, in churches, 
by the family fireside ; the halls of legislation, national and 
State, became avenues in which rencounters took place, not 
always bloodless; negro riots occurred; the mails were 
rifled and contents burned publicly in the streets ; scaffolds 
were erected on which to hang the disturbers of the public 
peace ; prominent men were mobbed in different cities ; and 
school-books were changed to suit the prevalent ideas of the 
sections. 

1 See Life of Dr. Chalmers, Vol. IV., p. 571. Harper & Bros. 1852. 



204 The Strife Before the War. 

Thus the strife went on, waxing more and more fierce, 
until actual hostilities with arms began in 1861. The lan- 
guage of Dr. White — "there has been no peace in this 
country for about thirty-five years "—is in strict accordance 
with fact. 

"While acting as General Agent for the American Tract 
Society in Virginia he was sent, in the spring of 1835, to 
New York and Boston to attend a convention .of those inter- 
ested in the tract work. In a diary kept at the time by him 
we find some notes bearing on this subject. After the lapse 
of fifty-five years, in which time the greatest event in the 
history of the United States has taken place, "the war be- 
tween the States," and the emancipation of the slaves, these 
notes will interest the thoughtful reader, the more so be- 
cause, on a fly-leaf of this diary, we find the following post- 
script, written near the close of the war, October 6, 1 864 : 
"The views herein expressed of slavery and abolitionism 
have undergone no material change when now the terrible 
civil war predicted in this paper is actually upon us." 

The notes in the diary read as follows : " Of all the new and 
extravagant things at the North, nothing can equal the fu- 
rious and fiery spirit of the abolitionists. . . . Avowing the 
purest benevolence for the colored race, they exhibit a spirit 
towards those of their own color both violent and reckless. 
One of them, and he a minister of the gospel, told me he 
was ready at any time to shoulder his musket and march 
against his white brethren of the South. . . . This man was 
city missionary in Boston. Another told me that no man 
was under any obligation to pay debts which had been con- 
tracted under the slavery system ; that no citizen of Vir- 
ginia was under the slightest obligation to obey those laws 
which were designed to regulate slavery, and that the con- 
stitution of the United States was an iniquitous, a bloody 
compact. 

" This man I convicted in a public company of having once 



The Strife Before the War. 205 

sold slaves to a considerable amount, and of travelling at 
that moment to make fiery abolition speeches on the pro- 
ceeds of those very sales. This man is the notorious James 
G. Birney, of Kentucky, once a respectable lawyer, a highly 
reputable citizen, a kind-hearted, benevolent and chari- 
table neighbor and friend. At an unhappy hour he had 
imbibed the sentiments and spirit of this cut-throat crew, 
and in a moment all rational and consistent benevolence and 
charity forsook his breast, and now nothing is left but an 
undefined and undefinable sort of compassion for the blacks, 
with a hatred for those of his own color which nothing can 
satisfy short of their blood. 

" Indeed, the whole party seem literally to riot in the an- 
ticipation of soon witnessing the utter extermination of the 
whole slave-holding population, and of the establishment in 
their place of the blacks. It really seems to me that a 
black skin, covering any sort of a heart, is the only sure 
passport to their confidence and kind feelings. 

" This party, however, constitutes a small portion of the 
population. Public sentiment is violently enlisted against 
them. ' No religious society in Boston will allow them the 
use of their house of worship, nor will the civil authority 

grant them the use of any of their public buildings 

Upon the whole, I love my Northern brethren all the better 
since seeing them in their own houses. And the more I 
love them the more I hate abolitionism as such, which, in 
my eyes, is as a black wart standing out upon a comely and 
attractive face. 

" The Bostonians are not satisfied with treating me kindly. 
They have given me six hundred and twenty-five dollars for 
the Society in whose service I am travelling, and that, too, 
without my asking for it. 

" The Yankees are a noble race. But I am not writing a 
book. I am merely recording a few memoranda for the 
amusement of my children when I am taken away." 



206 A Thrilling Incident. 

As a specimen of Dr. White's graphic style of narration, 
we copy from the diary the following incident : " On my re- 
turn from this delightful meeting one of those incidents 
occurred which serve to remind us forcibly of our utter de- 
pendence on God and of our constant exposure to death. I 
had taken my seat with the stage-driver, that I might have 
an opportunity to converse with him about his peculiar 
duties as a professing Christian, he being a member of our 
church. We reached the Bivanna, which we were to cross 
in a ferry-boat. A gentleman and lady were all who were 
in the stage. 

" Before entering the boat the gentleman left the stage, 
deeming it unsafe to pass the river in so confined a situation. 
The lady and m} T self retained our seats, she in the stage and 
I with the driver. The horses entered the boat rather too 
precipitately, so that, as the foremost wheels of the stage 
struck the boat, its moorings gave way, and off went the 
boat down stream, the horses beino* on board and the stao-e 
in the water. I kept my seat until the hind feet of the 
wheel horses losing their hold, the poor animals slided 
slowly into the water, holding to the end of the boat with 
their fore feet. 

" The water now began to pour through the boot of the 
driver's box, and the stage was so completely filled with 
water that there was barely room above its surface for the 
lady's head. I saw that, in an instant more, we must lose 
all hold upon the boat, and that the stage, horses, passen- 
gers and all must be precipitated into the stream together. 
For my own part I decidedly preferred taking the water 
[Dr. White was a lame man], so I sprang into the river and 
easily swam to the shore we had just left. 

" I had scarcely left my seat when what I had anticipated 
occurred, horses, stage, driver and lady all came with a tre- 
mendous splash immediately behind me. The horses fell 
with so much regularity, and so untrammeled by the har- 



A Theilling Incident. 207 

ness, that they instantly recovered and swam with amazing 
spirit towards the opposite shore 

" SaveraL times the top of the stage could scarcely be seen 
above the water. The driver kept his seat and the lady 
her's. We utterly abandoned all hope of their escaping a 
watery grave. Several boats were sent out to meet the 
stage, but no regard was paid to this proffered help. In 
truth there was no time to try experiments. 

" It was a scene truly sublime and almost overpowering 
to the spectators. I had swam until I reached the muddy 
bottom, when I immediately turned to see what had become 
of my companions in danger. I stood all the time up to my 
waist in water, too much concerned about the result to go 
ashore. 

"The driver had the precaution to give the horses the 
reins entirely, and, sitting, whip in hand, he gave them the 
lash freely as they arose above the water, until at length, to 
the amazement and joy of all, they reached the opposite shore 
in perfect safety. Surely the Lord compasseth our path at 
all times." 



CHAPTER XIV. 

1866-1871. 
Health Fails. — Offebs his Resignation to the Session ; Declined,. 

AND AN OfFEB OF SUPPOBT FOB AN ASSISTANT MADE, PeOVIDED HIS 

Health not Restoeed by Rest. — Cobeesponds fob Assistant. — 
Health not being Eestoeed, Insists on Resigning. — Action of 
the congeegation. — becomes principal of the ann smith acad- 
EMY. — Letter to Rev. John S. Watt. — A Touching Sight. — The 
School Succeeds. — Resigns. — Letteb of the Teustees Accept- 
ing. 

" Howe'er it be, it seems to me 

'Tis only noble to be good ; 
Kind hearts are more than coronets, 

And simple faith than Noianan blood." 

" ^"OVEMBER 2, 1866. Maladies which have disturbed me 
-L* for more than two years have at last resulted in a total 
suspension of my ministry. Enfeebled in body and mind, 
wholly incapacitated for labor, I have been compelled to re- 
tire from the pulpit. The chief source of my sufferings is 
my throat. For more than thirty-nine years I have preached 
in-door s and out, at every season and in all states of the 
weather. I have often preached twice a day for two weeks, 
and have never, until now, suffered in the least degree from 
my voice or lungs. But suddenly the evil has come upon 
me. For more than a year I have had a troublesome cough, 
attended by great debility. I preached regularly twice on 
the Sabbath, and lectured one evening in the week, with no 
other inconvenience than great prostration after each service. 
" Still, as I did not improve while at work, I tendered my 
resignation to the session. It was promptly and unani- 
mously declined, and a resolution adopted with equal 
promptitude and unanimity exempting me from all profes- 
sional duties, both public and private, until January 1, 1867, 

208 



Health Fails. 209 

meantime continuing my salary, and pledging themselves to 
provide a substitute for the pulpit, and to supply my place 
themselves in visiting, and otherwise superintending the 
congregation. They moreover avowed, without a dissecting 
voice, that if, when the first of January came, I was still un- 
able to resume my duties, an adequate salary should be con- 
tinued, w T hile no duty would be required but such as I could 
perform in my study ; and that they would proceed to call a 
collegiate pastor, for whose support they would provide, in 
addition to my own. This was more than just; it was emi- 
nently generous. My heart filled, and I could not restrain 
tears of gratitude. The abuse of the wicked can be endured 
with calmness, but such kindness from God's people almost 
breaks my heart. 

"I am, therefore, now wholly laid aside. For almost forty 
years God called me to speak, and now, with equal distinct- 
ness, he calls me to be silent. Surely I should yield to the 
one as promptly and cheerfully as the other. In great mercy 
he has given me two sons who occupy important positions as 
heralds of the same blessed gospel which I have so long pro- 
claimed. This is a great comfort to me, and helps me to 
'be still and know that he is God.' . 

" All my symptoms, however, are better. My general health 
has improved very much. The soreness of the throat hag 
ceased. My voice is clearer and stronger, and the cough has 
lessened. 

"I desire to wait patiently upon God, and to have my 'ex- 
pectation from him.' 'The Lord is my light and my salva- 
tion; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my 
life; of whom shall I be afraid? For in the time of trouble 
he shall hide me in his pavilion.'" 

Br. White laid down his pen at this point; nor did he 
ever take it up again to write another line of "notes" on his 
life, although he lived six years longer, and wrote on other 



210 His Resignation Declined. 

matters. He seems to have considered his life as virtually 
ended by his retirement from regular, professional work. 
The course pursued by the church was not what he expected, 
and he doubtless decided in his own mind that the interests 
of all concerned required little, if anything, to be said about 
it at the time. 

"We have gathered from his correspondence and from the 
minutes of the session of the Lexington Church all the facts 
necessary to complete the record of his life. 

We have seen from his "notes" that the session declined 
his resignation when it was first offered, and gave him a va- 
cation of several months. In a letter to his son George, 
dated October 29, 1866, he makes a minute statement of 
this action of the session, viz. : 

"The session had a full meeting a week ago, and resolved 
to discharge me from every professional duty, in public and 
in private, until the first of January next, meantime continu- 
ing to me my full salary. . . . The session also agreed that 
' if my health was not restored on the first of January, then 
to continue to me a salary of $1,000, requiring of me no duty 
but such as I could render in my study, and that they 
would then proceed to call a collegiate pastor, whom they 
would support by voluntary contribution. This was ex- 
tremely generous. They met in my study, and insisted that 
I should remain with them during the pending of these mat- 
ters. My heart filled and my tears flowed. I can quietly 
endure the abuse of the wicked, but such kindness from 
God's people almost breaks my heart.'" 

In a note on the margin of the page he adds: 

" I should have stated that this action was taken by the 
session on my tendering to them, and through them to the 
church, the resignation of my pastoral charge." 

From this letter two facts are perfectly clear : the first is, 
that Dr. "White did not offer his resignation under a promise 
of the session to provide for him a maintenance as pastor 



Resigns the Pastorate. 211 

emeritus. He could not have known what was at that time 
in their minds; and if he had, he could not have known 
whether the congregation would approve their act. " The 
action was taken," he says, "on my tendering to them, and 
through them to the church, the resignation of my pastoral 
charge." 

His resignation was evidently the discharge of a duty, in 
which he walked by simple faith in God, who would overrule 
all things for good; it was going forward in the dark. 

The second fact made evident by this letter is, that he 
could not have been misinformed or mistaken in what he 
wrote. It is rarely the case that so many details of any 
transaction are given in a friendly letter without any design 
for publication. The meeting was "a full one"; it was held 
only "a week" before he wrote; "in my study"; after their 
insisting on his remaining "with them during the pending 
of these matters"; they agreed to continue "a salary of 
$1,000"; . . "to call a collegiate pastor," and to provide for 
his support "by voluntary contributions." He then states 
the effect of their action upon his feelings in language iden- 
tical with that on the last page of his "notes." 

By this act of the session, Dr. AVhite was led to open cor- 
respondence with a young minister, one who had grown up 
in the church, and for whom he felt a love so deep and 
strong that he was sure they could cooperate with cordiality. 
This young minister agreed to act as his colleague, and 
wrote to him accordingly. 

For reasons which we have not been able to ascertain, 
the session changed their mind. The collegiate pastor was 
not employed. The first of January passed without such an 
improvement in his health as justified his resuming the full 
duty of the ministry in so large a church. Accordingly, on 
the 9th of March, 1867, he ag.ain tendered the formal resig- 
nation of his office, and asked the session and congregation 
to concur with him in an application to Presbytery to grant 



212 Resignation Accepted. 

it. The session, in meeting March 12, 1867, acceded to his 
request, and at a congregational meeting, held April 13, 
1867, his resignation was accepted. An effort was made to 
defeat this action by the offer of a substitute, declining to 
accept his resignation, and offering Dr. White an assistant. 
But the substitute was lost. 

This action, though taken in congregational meeting, was 
not agreeable to the majority, and trouble began to arise. 
The division of the church was threatened. Dr. "White, with 
characteristic self-forgetfulness, promptly prevented any 
such catastrophe. In a letter to his son George, dated May 
27, 1867, after the w T ords, "The strong aversion of many, 
nay, a large majority of the church, to unite in my request 
to Presbytery," he adds, "The desire was to procure an as- 
sistant. But this was opposed by a part of the session, and 

finally by all except Mr. . But I was firmly resolved, 

by the help of God, that there should be no division, no 
wrangling, and had a brief letter read from the pulpit by 
Dr. Kirkpatrick, which fully quieted the matter, and so the 
dissolution was effected with the utmost harmony." 

When General Washington resigned his place at the head 
of the army with which he had won the nation's liberty, it 
was by general consent. When Cincinnatus resigned the 
dictatorship of Rome, and retired to his farm, he sought his 
personal ease. When Samuel, the last and noblest of the 
judges of Israel, stood aside from power and influence, 'twas 
because he was growing old, and the people were clamoring 
for a king. But Dr. White resigned at sixty-six years of 
age "from a firm conviction that your" (the church's) "best 
interests made it necessary," and by his personal influence 
prevailed on "the large majority" to submit to a party in 
the session. 

The minister of the gospel who is called of God to the 
work never wants to "retire from business." The labor of 
his vocation is its own reward. The joy of that communion 



WoEKS FOE THE PEACE OF THE ChUECH. 213 

with the Lord which he finds in his work has a peculiar fas- 
cination for his mind. He has meat to eat that others know 
not of. And this is the reason why, of all men, he is the 
most reluctant to retire from work. Even when failing 
health, or the infirmities of old age, lay the necessity upon 
him, the heart pines to be at it again. It has been playf ully 
said that "the grace of resignation is the last grace God 
gives a minister of the gospel." 

When Dr. "White was called to Lexington, in 1848, the 
living promised him by the church was $1,000, and the use 
of the manse. This was soon raised to $1,200, and was 
promptly paid throughout his ministry. Although the town 
of Lexington did not grow appreciably, yet such was the 
growth of the church in the time of his work among them, 
that immediately upon his retirement they called Dr. Moses 
Hoge, of Richmond, on a salary of $2,500 and manse. The 
church had become one of the strongest in the Synod in 
every way. Its size, compared with that of the town of 
twenty-five hundred inhabitants, was phenomenal. It would 
be difficult, if not impossible, to find a parallel case. The 
town was full of men and women who regarded him as their 
spiritual father. By his personal presence and sympathy, 
asa" son of consolation " during the war, he had carried the 
comfort of religion to almost every house. 

To stand aside from such a pastorate, and see another take 
nis place in the affections of the people ; to have an effort to 
retain him on a living salary, as pastor emeritus, rejected, 
and see another called to do his work with a promise of 
twice the salary he had ever received, was calculated to stir 
up jealousy and a factious spirit. But just the opposite was 
conspicuously displayed. He interested himself in helping 
the people to get a minister; and when at last one came, he 
welcomed him with open arms, waited upon his ministry 
with docility, and upheld his hands in every way. 

In a letter to his son George, dated July 25, 1868, he 



214 Works for the Peace of the Church. 

writes: "I have made several excursions into the country to 
preach, and enjoyed it very much. I expect to preach here 
(Lexington) to-morrow for the first time in two years. . . . 
The last minister called to the pastorate of this church was 
the Bev. Mr. Lowry, of Selma, Alabama. But he too de- 
clines their call, and they meet again on the 3rd of August 
to make another effort. They are becoming terribly dis- 
heartened, and appearances at present portend a split. Some 
ill-feeling and some wrangling begin to appear. I was told 
recently from a high source, that if I would permit my name 
to be used I would be elected by acclamation. Of course I 
declined. I told him my work as pastor of this church was 
fully finished in July, 1866. But I do feel great anxiety 
about them." 

Having resigned from a sense of duty, in the face of pov- 
erty and a homeless old age, he was not the man to return 
to office again. His step had been taken dispassionately, 
in the fear of God, and was therefore without repentance. 

Not very long after this the Presbytery of Lexington met 
in Lexington. He attended its sittings awhile daily, and 
occupied a chair in front of the pulpit. " His appearance 
was very venerable and impressive," says the Bev. B. H. 
Fleming, who was a member of the court. " The moderator 
called on him to address the body, which he did with marked 
effect on all present." Among other things, showing the de- 
cision of his mind about the step he had taken, he said, with 
that warmth and forcefulness which was characteristic of 
him, " Brethren, forty years ago I heard the voice of God 
speaking to me and saying, ' Preach my gospel/ and now, 
with equal distinctness, I hear him saying, ' Stop preach- 
ing.'" The Bev. John A. Scott, of Dufiield, W. Va., recol- 
lects, among other remarks, this, "I thank God he has per- 
mitted me to preach the gospel for forty years." Thus was 
he permitted, like the great apostle, to finish his course with 



His Fifth School. 215 

To have resigned at sixty-six years of age because his 
throat was sore, was surely a mistake. Events proved it so. 
Best entirely restored him. To begin at that time of life a 
struggle for existence, under all the circumstances, seemed 
a desperate venture. But he saw no escape from it, after 
leaving his pulpit and manse. 

He had laid by a small patrimony years before, and added 
something to it while teaching in Charlottesville. This was 
swept away by the war. His noble spirit would not allow 
him to accept a living from any while he had power to earn 
it for himself. The same greatness of heart that could not 
bear the thought of holding on by "sentimental sufferance" 
to a place in the church which he could not; completely fill 
would not allow him to be a pensioner upon another's bounty. 
He could lay down his salary, vacate his home, and hazard 
all the ills of a penniless old age for the church which, by 
God's blessing, he had carried up to the front rank in the 
Synod of Virginia, but he could not eat the bread of idleness 
under any circumstances. 

The Ann Smith Academy, a school of high-grade for young 
ladies, being vacant, and being " pressed upon " him, he ac- 
cepted the position of principal, and entered upon its duties 
in September, 1868. An experience of twelve years in con- 
ducting a school of this sort in Charlottesville prepared his 
mind for the task before him. He knew all about its cares 
and toils. Yet he took hold, at the age of sixty-eight years, 
with characteristic courage, determined to throw into the 
enterprise all his enthusiasm and strength, and make it a 
success. 

In a letter to one of his sons, dated July 25, 1868, he 
writes thus: "I am about to buckle on the harness as a 
teacher again. It would be impossible to find a more com- 
fortable home than Ave have here. But I am idle, and this 
is enough to render any home distasteful. The trustees and 
many others press the Ann Smith Academy upon me. I 



216 His Fifth School. 

hope to get Mr. Wm. Jordan and his wife to keep the house 
and accomsnodate the boarders, including your mother and 
me in the number. "We shall accordingly vacate our delight- 
ful rooms here and take far inferior ones there. Your 
mother will take the little girls. May it please God to en- 
able me to do something more in this line before I die. 
Now that he has given me a measure of health I never ex- 
pected to enjoy again, I must use it in his service, or greatly 
sin." 

His strength of purpose is seen in a letter to his brother- 
in-law, the Rev. John S. Watt : 

"November 26, 1866. 

" My Deak Brother : They talk of calling an assistant. 
But .... and others are opposed to this for the reason, as 
they express it, that it is less cruel to starve one man than 
two. If I resign, then, at over sixty-six years of age, I begin 
life afresh a great deal poorer than I was forty years ago. 
But I may have voice enough to teach, if not to preach, and if 
not, then use enough of this right hand to keep some mer- 
chant's books. God helping, neither you nor I need despair." 

His wife entered with him into this work with her whole 
heart. She too, though nearly seventy years of age, became 
a teacher of girls, having her room and classes to which she 
gave her time every day. 

There is something very touching and inspiring in this 
sight: two old people, who had spent their whole life in the 
service of God in the church, broken in fortune, enfeebled 
by age, of their own accord stepping down from prominence 
and competency, declining to live with their children because, 
as they often said, " if they could not help, they would not 
hinder " them, and going into the school-room to earn their 
bread "by the sweat of their face." 

And they did it so meekly, so sweetly. Not a word of 
complaint fell from their lips, even in the hearing of those 



His Fifth School. 217 

who knew them as children know loving and confiding pa- 
rents. Like God-fearing saints they accepted "the hard lot 
of a struggle for bread in old age as a dispensation of mercy 
from a loving heavenly Father. They went to their task 
without a murmuring word, nay, counting it a joy to "please 
God " by doing " something more in this line " before they 
died. 

The boarding department of the school was entrusted to 
a friend of long standing, Mr. Wm. Jordan, who filled the 
place completely. The teaching was done by himself and 
wife, with the following faculty, viz. : Miss Francis Mary 
Exall, from Eeading, England, who had entire charge of the 
music department ; Miss Jane Reid Venable, of Farmville, 
Va., had charge of the preparatory department ; Miss Mary 
Francis Witherspoon, of York, S. C, managed the department 
of higher English; Prof. D. Rodes Massie, the department 
of languages ; Mr. Edwin C. Moorman, of Powhatan county, 
Va., taught mathematics. From the size and accomplish- 
ment of his staff, it is obvious that Dr. White's ideas had 
not diminished with age. Miss Wither s]Doon, having married 
Dr. Lewis Duncan Mason, of Brooklyn, N. Y., resides there, 
and is an authoress of increasing fame. Her husband is a 
distinguished physician and a lineal descendant of the very 
celebrated Rev. Dr. John M. Mason. Miss Exall married 
Mr Wm. Chaplin, member of Parliament from Torquay, 
and is now a widow. 

Dr. White won the hearts of his assistant teachers as of 
his scholars. We have in hand a letter from Mrs. Dr. Mason, 
abundantly showing the truth of this statement, which on 
many accounts we would like to insert. 

The school proved a success. It paid all expenses from 
the start, and yielded a surplus. But it soon became evi- 
dent that the strain was too heavy for him, enfeebled, as he 
was, by old age, and his superabundant work and anxiety 
during the war. His strength gave out sooner than he ex- 



218 Resigns his School. 

pected. A succession of attacks, attended by sinking spells 
that exhausted his strength, after three years of work, con- 
vinced him and his children of his inability successfully to 
carry on the enterprise. His spirit was willing, but his 
flesh was weak. So, at the end of the third session, with 
the earnest advice of his sons, he volunteered his resignation 
to the Board of Trustees. 

It was a common saying with him that he would not hold a 
place that felt itself independent of him, and which another 
could be gotten to fill better than he could. To hang on to 
a place for the loaves and fishes, his noble spirit could not 
brook. The place must hang on to him as indispensable to its 
interests. "Woe to a preacher," he used to say, "when he 
ceased to be indispensable to his church!" 

The same motive led him to resign the principalship of 
the Academy that led to his resignation of his pulpit. He 
entered both as the servant of God, and, finding his work 
beyond his strength, turned it over to another. On .two 
former occasions he had it seriously in mind to resign his 
pulpit, because he thought he might be more useful else- 
where. Thus, December 13, 1860, he writes to a friend: "I 
cannot help feeling that the time has come for me to seek a 
smaller and more obscure position. A few months ago I 
thought I should leave and embark in teaching a female 
school, but the Lord hedged up the way, or, rather, he 
seemed to do it." This refers probably to^the effort of Dr. 
Joseph M. Atkinson to get him to take charge of the Insti- 
tute for young ladies at Ealeigh, N. C. 

Again he sought the office of evangelist. February 19, 
1858, he writes: "There has been a steadily deepening con- 
viction on my mind for more than twelve months that a man 
may be found better fitted to fill my place than I now can, 
. . . Could I not resign my present charge for the office of 
evangelist, to be appointed and sustained, say, by West and 
East Hanover Presbyteries, ' with a special view to visit all 



Resigns his School. 219 

• 
the churches in their bounds, directing my labors mainly to 
the awakening of the ruling eldership and the increase of 
candidates for the ministry, extending my work into frontier 
and destitute portions of the land? ... It does seem to me 
that, with the small modicum of wicommon sense, and the 
more respectable modicum of common sense, that God has 
given me, I could thus do more for the seminary, the colleges, 
the common schools, and the press of our church, in the lit- 
tle time now remaining to me, than in any other way." 

Dr. Plumer says, as we have already seen, that no man 
better understood his oicn powers than Dr. White. He suc- 
ceeded at everything he undertook throughout life. The 
merit of success always showed itself, whether teacher, or 
agent, or preacher, or presbyter. Even in the last effort of 
his life, as principal of Ann Smith Academy, he succeeded, 
as may be seen from the following letter : 

"Lexington, Va., August 3, 1871. 
"Rev. W. S. White, D. D. : 

" Dear Sir: The Trustees of the Ann Smith Academy have 
instructed me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 
resignation. They accept the same, and in doing so, tender 
to you their hearty acknowledgments for the able manner 
in which, for three years, you have presided over the insti- 
tution, and their sincere regrets that your health will not 
admit of your longer continuance at this post of usefulness. 
They express the sentiments of the whole community when 
they assure you that your resignation creates a vacancy 
which they cannot hope adequately to fill. 

"Commending you to the care of the Father of mercies, 
they pray that your honored and useful life may be long 
spared in the midst of this community, where the marks of 
your abundant labors are everywhere visible. 

"Very truly and respectfully, your friend and brother, 

" Jno. W. Pratt, JPres. of Board of Trustees." 



CHAPTEE XV. 

1871-1873. 

Retreats to the Home op his Daughter, Mrs. Harriet McCrum. — 
Serene and Cheerful Old Age. — How he Appeared to his Breth- 
ren ; e. g., Rev. G. W. Leyburn and Rev. Dr. Wm. S. Plumer. — 
His Chief Desire in Prospect op Death. — Leads his Physician 
to Christ.— Impressive Interview with Judge J. W. Brocken- 
brough. — Anecdote of his Patriotism. 

" What if I sleep and then awake 
On the future's distant shore ; 
Where the rose of love and the lily of peace 
Shall bloom forever more ? 

" Then let the earth go round and round, 
And the sun sink into the sea ; 
For whether I'm on or under the ground, . 
Oh ! what will it matter to me ?" 

THIS was in August, 1871. Old, infirm, homeless, he is 
at that sad time in life when our burdens are the heaviest 
and our power to bear or throw them off the least. He has 
made a last, despairing effort to serve his God, his church and 
his generation. He has sunk beneath the effort. Full proof 
has been made of his ministry. The judgment of his sons 
concurs with his own. He must give up to the inev- 
itable. He hears the voice of God calling him out of the 
struggle to unbuckle his harness and be still. Bowing 
meekly and solemnly, yet with a sorrowing heart to think 
that he can do no more for that cause which he loves so 
dearly, he quits the field. 

Unable to speak in public or teach a school, he yet has 
some ability with his pen, for the proper use of which he 
feels accountable. Under this conviction the "Notes" which 
compose the staple of this volume, and occasional articles 

220 



Old Age. 221 

for the religious press, were written. He was never idle, 
but used up the last shred of his time in the service of God. 

This ardor and intensity were not confined to the church. 
He served his country as well. His love of country and her 
institutions, especially his native State, Virginia, would rouse 
him even from a sick bed. Long after he had left the walks 
of men, and confined himself to his sick room, learning that 
his friend, General Kemper, was before the people as a can- 
didate for the governorship of the State, he was taken by 
his physician in a carriage, and on the arms of friends, to 
the polls, to cast his vote. As he was brought out of the 
courthouse, some one in the crowd exclaimed, "Game to 
the last;" and the Lexington Gazette, in its columns the 
next week, compared him to "Gideon at the fords of the 
Jordan, faint yet pursuing." 

He was a Virginian to the marrow of his bones. In a let- 
ter to Dr. ¥m. Brown, about their contemplated journey to 
the General Assembly in Eochester, New York, in 1860, he 
writes : 

"I don't mean to dress up. I was buying a hat the other 
day, and the seller said, ' You'll not see one man in twenty 
with that sort of a hat on at the North.' Then, said I, it's 
the hat for me, because it's old Virginia." 

Throughout life he felt a strong aversion to leaving his 
native State for any other, which was revived with power when- 
ever he had to consider seriously a call to work in another. 

Unable to serve his church or State in any other way than 
by the occasional use of his pen, he finds a delightful retreat 
in the home of his daughter, Mrs. Harriet McCrum. Bead- 
ing, writing, playing with her children, and receiving his 
numerous friends, he spends a serene old age, "abounding 
in hope by the power of the Holy Ghost." Visitors often 
found it good and profitable to their souls to look into his 
cheerful countenance, and listen to his words of wholesome 
entertainment. His delight in conversation never failed him. 



222 How he Appeared to Others. 

At times lie sat alone and kept silence, while meditating on 
his inability to serve God in the ministry. At other times 
he was grieved because he had no home of his own, where 
his children and grandchildren might gather for social re- 
unions. But his faith in God, and his "good hope of glory 
through grace," manifested themselves in so much peace and 
joy, that his conversation proved a fountain of pleasure to 
those who sought it. 

That it may be seen how he appeared to others in his last 
days, as well as to his children, we give below several letters 
from men known throughout the church, whose ministry 
■was cotemporaneous with his; i. e., Eev. G. L. Leyburn, Sr., 
Eev. Dr. "W. S. Plumer, Dr. Bissell, and Dr. J. L. Kirk- 
patrick. 

[For the Central Presbyterian.] 
"Testimony of a Departing Veteran. 

"I w T as in Lexington, Va., between two and three weeks 
ago, and called to see our venerable friend, Dr. "Win. S. 
"White. I had heard, previous to making the call, that he 
was so unwell as to be "laid up," but thought it might be a 
temporary indisposition, such as, at times, of late years, he 
had passed through. "When I saw him, how T ever, and heard 
him express himself, I began to think that he was probably 
soon to receive the Master's call. I thought I saw some- 
thing of the seal of death upon his features. But his face 
never so impressed me, as a venerable and striking one, in 
the degree that it then did. 

"He called me, almost as soon as I got in, to his bed-side; 
in his usual friendly way (which any one acquainted with 
him will remember), expressed his pleasure at seeing me ; told 
me how much comfort he had had in the calls and the prayers 
with him of my brother, who resides in the vicinity, and re- 
peated what he had at other times said of the friendship be- 
tween them of so many years These words of his, 



How he Appealed to Othees. 223 

spoken at such a juncture, have renewed in my mind the 
thought, how precious, how heaven-like, how immortal are 
Christian friendships ! 

" 'The fellowship of kindred minds, 
Is like to that above. ' 

" Then, asking me to lead in prayer by his bed-side, he 

said, 'Brother L , I am getting near; but I am peaceful — ■ 

I am peaceful.' And then he added, seeming to me partic- 
ularly to wish to utter this testimony : ' I have spent forty- 
two years in the gospel ministry ; I have no regrets for that ; I 
am thankful that I have spent so much of my lif e in that work.' 

"Making the prayer as he had requested, when I rose 
from it I saw that he seemed still for a few moments en- 
gaged in silent devotion, with his arms resting on the elbows 
upon his breast, and his hands stretching upwards Then 
turning to me, he repeated his testimony, I think as to his 
peace of mind in the prospect of the great change (and he 
needed not to tell me on what that rested), as well as in re- 
spect to his ministry. 

" I expected and wished to see him again, for the chamber 
where such a servant of God meets his end is a privileged 
place ; it is a vestibule of heaven ; we may obtain more than 
we confer in the visit to the departing one. But it so hap- 
pened that I did not get there again ; it was therefore my 
last earthly interview with him. . . . 

" Winchester, Va., December, 1873. G. W. L." 

[From the New York Observer. ] 

" Letter from Dr. Plumer to Levi A. Ward, Esq , of Ro- 
chester, N. Y. 

"My Dear, Kind Friend : You will remember that blessed 
meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
Church in your city in 1860. I can never forget it. At its 
opening JJr. Spring offered one of the most copious and edi- 



224 How he Appeaeed to Othebs. 

fying prayers I have ever heard. Although, it was twice as 
long as the prayers we commonly hear before sermon, yet- 
all were sorry when he ceased to plead at the mercy-seat. 

" The prayer was followed by a very practical and power- 
ful discourse from Kev. Dr. Wm. A. Scott, of California. The 
preacher had just crossed the Rocky Mountains by the ' pony 
express.' For eleven days and nights he had travelled continu- 
ously, not knowing, for a considerable part of the way, what 
moment the Indians, then hostile and excited, might make 
a murderous attack on the party. But God spared his use- 
ful life, and he preached to us with simplicity and power. 

' The Assembly thus opened was remarkable for many 
things. It was large. It did much important business. 
The hospitality shown by you and your neighbors was 
boundless. An excellent temper governed the Assembly. 
There was an abundance of good preaching. It was the 
last Assembly that invited any Southern man to fill any 
high post in the North. It was the last Assembly in which 
the South was represented. . . . But a chief object in writ- 
ing to you is to say something of the last days of the Rev. 
Dr. Wm. S. White, who recently died at Lexington, Va., 
honored and beloved in all the land. 

" You will remember him as somewhat lame. Your con- 
siderate Committee of Arrangements kindly placed him at a 
fine hotel hard by the church. Here he was handsomely 
entertained. Out of the Assembly and in w 7 aking hours he 
was almost constantly surrounded by a pleasant group of 
gentlemen, most of whom had never seen him before. They 
were attracted by his manly and noble countenance, by his 
easy, courteous and affable manners, by his marked humil- 
ity, and by his ardent love to Christ and his people. Often 
have they spoken of the love and admiration he drew forth 
by his winning ways. 

" At his death Dr. White was seventy-three years old. He 
had been a preacher forty-eight years. In his life ne had 



How he Appeabed to Otheks. 225 

done a great work for the Tract Society. He had, at dif- 
ferent times, controlled two very important female schools. 
He had been chaplain at the University of Virginia. He 
had had charge of four different churches. He delighted 
in pastoral work. His pulpit was his throne. His people 
were his joy and crown. I think you would like to hear 
something of the last days of this great and good man. 

"About eight years ago Dr. White's throat or lungs be- 
came somewhat affected. He suffered more or less till near 
the close of his life, when a bad cold aggravated all his 
symptoms. He lived a few weeks and then was no longer 
on earth. To him death had no terrors. It was the high- 
way to the joy of his Lord. For some months before his 
decease Dr. White had confidently anticipated a very early 
departure out of time into eternity. Yet he was always 
happy to see his friends, particularly his brethren in the 
ministry. Thinking and talking of death did not distress 
him. He spoke of leaving the world with as much composure 
as if he were going on a visit to one of his children. He 
said he had lived his allotted time on earth. Except for 
the sundering of ties very tender and strong, the prospect of 
dying did not cost him a pang. He would have greatly re- 
joiced to be allowed to preach the blessed gospel, but he 
never murmured at the silence enforced upon him by dis- 
ease. He said, ' I have been greatly honored in being al- 
lowed, in my poor way, to preach the glorious gospel, and 
now my Master, who called me first to preach, wills me to 
sit still and be silent ; and I will try and obey him in a pro- 
per and becoming manner, as a Christian ought, with pa- 
tience and resignation to his holy will. If I know my own 
heart, I desire to glorify God in sickness and in health.' 

"The old adversary, the lion of the evening, would not 

let this old hero of the cross pass away without annoyance. 

He sometimes disturbed him with fears that he would yet 

be left to fall into some sin that would greatly dishonor 

15 



226 How he Appeared to Others. 

God. Again he suggested that his sins were too great for 
God to forgive. But these conflicts were short. The 
truths, ' My grace is sufficient for thee,' and ' He is able to 
save to the uttermost,' were blessed to drive away the arch 
enemy. 

" Dr. White's interest in the church of Christ grew stronger 
and stronger to the end. He delighted in hearing of any 
progress the gospel was making in any part of the world. 
He took great interest in the proceedings of the Evangelical 
Alliance. As his vision was good (he had second sight), he 
read with great pleasure everything he could get on the 
subject. He said he thought it augured well for the church 
of Christ. He loved God's people of every name. The 
hymns beginning— 

" ' I lay my sins on Jesns, 
The spotless Lamb of God, ' 

and — 

' ' ' Jesus, lover of my soul, 
Let me to thy bosom fly, ' 

were as soothing cordials to him. 

"With the exceptions already stated, Dr. White's peace 
was like a river. It was the peace of God that passeth all 
understanding. Lying very still for a while, one heard him 
say, 'I want to go home.' Supposing his mind might be 
wandering, one said, 'You are at home.' He replied, 'Oh! 
yes, I am at my earthly home, but I w T ant to go to my heav- 
enly home, to be with J esus. Here I have a good, sweet 
home, with my dear wife and children, and it will be a great 
trial to part with you all. But I want to go to my heavenly 
home. I have two precious sons gone before. Will not 
they rejoice to welcome their old father to glory ? And will 
it not be joyful to see my blessed Saviour and Bedeeiner in 
his glory and dwell with him for ever?' 

" To the wife of his youth he said, ' Look up to God, my 



How he Appeared to Otheks. 227 

dear one. Jehovah will be your Husband, your Father 
and your Friend. It will not be long before you follow 
me.' 

" He knew his Saviour as long as he knew anything. His 
full and final release was apparently without pain. He fell 
asleep in Jesus. 

"Thus there has left us as true, as generous, as candid, 
as faithful, and as loving a man as you will find in a life- 
time. 

"My love to all around you. 

"Faithfully yours, Wm. S. Plumeb." 

[From the New York Observer.] 
" The Late William S. White, D. D. 

" Messrs. Editoks : The recent tribute of Dr. Plumer to 
his old friend, Dr. White, in the Observer touches the heart 
of another friend in the North. 

" Nearly forty years ago it was the privilege of the writer 
to be Dr. White's assistant, and then his successor, in the 
general agency of the Virginia Tract Society, just entering 
upon the 'volume enterprise' of the American Tract Society, 
inaugurated after a noble speech made by Dr. Plumer be- 
fore them at their anniversary, May, 1834. His fellow- 
worker begs leave to bear his attestation to what the dis- 
tinguished professor has so well and so justly said of one of 
the most true, devout, and earnest servants of Christ in Vir- 
ginia during the last forty years, and to drop this simple 
immortelle on the grave of the honored and beloved pastor 
and friend of his youthful ministry. S. B. S. B." 

The Rev. Dr. J. L. Kirkpatrick, Professor of Philosophy 
in Washington and Lee University, wrote of him to The 
Central Presbyterian, viz. : 

1 This is Dr. Bissell, now of New York city, who assisted Dr. White 
in his early manhood in the American Tract Agency in Virginia. 



228 How he Appeased to Others. 

"His life — whole life — is such a testimony that nothing 
could have been added to its value by the experiences of 
the dying hour. It was a life of unremitted, self-denying- 
labor in the service of the Eedeemer as long as strength was 
given him to stand in the pulpit, or a voice to proclaim the 
offers of salvation to a perishing world, and afterward to 
its close a life of suffering, but of suffering that no less de- 
cisively evinced his love to the Saviour than his most devoted 
labors in preaching the gospel ; it was borne in such a sweet 
spirit of Christ-like resignation; through it all he, the pa- 
tient, was so bright and hopeful. Never has it been my 
happiness to witness a more 'beautiful old age,' or so cheer- 
ful, nay, so chsering, a sick room. 

"Who of the ministers of our church, belonging to the 
generation in which we live, is more worthy of as high a 
tribute of commendation and honor as it is lawful for man 
to bestow on man? I am sure that no member of our Synod 
possessed in a larger measure the confidence and love of all 
his brethren and of the Christian people of the State. If 
he was more loved and esteemed in Lexington than else- 
where, it was only because we saw more of him than others 
did and knew him better." 

The governing motive of his life was strong to the last — to 
honor God. He used to quote with approbation a remark of 
Dr. Doddridge : " I am more afraid of dishonoring God than 
of dying;" and frequently said he was much afraid he would 
yet, in some way, bring reproach on the gospel of Christ. 

In a letter to his. son George, dated October 26, 1867, 
after he had resigned his pastoral charge, and when con- 
fined to the house with sickness, he thus wrote: "Your re- 
flections as to God's dealings with me are just and season- 
able, and I cannot express the comfort I feel at being thus 
written to by a dear son. I need instruction and counsel 
from every quarter, for I am passing through the deep 



Last Hooks. 229 

waters. My condition is novel, and, in some respects, so 
trying, that unless I receive large supplies of grace, I shall 
not end my mortal life in accordance with my long- cherished 
and oft-repeated principles. I greatly desire that the clos- 
ing scenes of life may not be marred by any deformity 
or blot. May God, in whom I have ever lived, be my 
guide unto death." In his last days he often, very often, 
quoted Psalm lxxi. 18: "Now also, when I am old and gray- 
headed, O God, forsake me not, until I have shewed thy 
strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one 
that is to come." 

His physician, Dr. J. W. Mc Clung, had a large practice, 
was about sixty years of age, the head of a family, and was 
accounted one of the best men by nature in the community. 
But he was not a Christian; had never given himself to the 
Lord Jesus, nor publicly confessed him. Dr. White's heart 
was moved for him so deeply that he strove to show him 
the error of his ways and bring him to God. Nor did he 
abandon his purpose until it was consummated. On his 
dying bed he had the joy of leading to Christ him who min- 
istered to his body. 

Letter from Rev. T. P. Epes. 

"Woodstock, Va., May 23, 1889. 

"Dear Brother W^hite: Some time ago, while we were 
resting in our room at Dr. Hopkins', on our return from 
Presbytery at Shepherdstown, I promised to put in writing 
for you some account of some incidents in your father's sick 
chamber a few weeks or months before he ' fell on sleep.' 

"You must pardon the delay in executing the promise 
then made in Charlestown. You know, the pages of memory 
are like palimpsest manuscripts, written over many a time. 
Nothing is ever lost, but often the process of restoration is 
tedious, and, for accuracy, requires a leisure hour to bring 
out clearly the underwriting. Even now I cannot relate to 



230 . Last Hours. 

you the details of these occasions in such vividness and ten- 
derness as will account for the fixed impression upon me, as 
permanent as life. I was a susceptible boy then, and from 
childhood had been taught to hold your father in venera- 
tion, though I had never known him till I entered Washing- 
ton and Lee University as a student, in September, 1870. 

" A few evenings before the first visit of which we were 
speaking, the families of Mr. McCrum and Professor White 
had been called to his bedside, at bedtime I think. He had 
sunken through weakness into a state of inability to com- 
municate with those about him, and had lost knowledge of 
his outward surroundings ; yet the continuity of conscious- 
ness in the soul was not suspended, and rational thought 
was not interrupted. 

" Locked in in this state, he comprehended the cause, that 
it was from physical exhaustion. This he took to be death. 
This conviction first forced itself upon him on discovering 
his loss of power to communicate with those around him, 
while as yet he was still cognizant of their presence. His 
spirit yearned to say some tender word of farewell to each 
one in the room, especially to speak once again to your brother 
Tom. ' There ' (waving his hand) ' sat my boy Tom, and I 
did want to plead with him once more to come to Jesus, and 
could not.' For a time his heart was bitterly pained and 
distressed at leaving him still out of Christ. 'But,' said he, 
1 it was only for a little while, for I felt sure that a covenant- 
keeping God would bring him to me after I was gone.' And 
as he spoke this confidence to us, his face lighted up with 
the assurance of hope, emanating from a faith which is the 
substance of the things we hope for. 'And,' he added, ' he 
will do it.' 

" Presently his senses became so feeble that they failed 
even to bring in a knowledge of his surroundings, though 
the mind was still active and clear. Now, as he thought he 
was passing away, eager expectancy of the imminent meet- 



Last Hours. 231 

ing with the Lord filled him with glad emotion, which 
beamed in his eye then while he spoke. 

" Later in the night his physical powers revived, his senses 
were re-opened, and he discovered, with bitter disappoint- 
ment, that he had not passed from earth, but was returned 
to life in the flesh. 

" Thus, in substance, he related this strange experience. 
I wish I could give it to you in his own words, of which a 
number inhere in the above account in its descriptive 
terms. 

"As he was talking, a shadow of compunction suddenly 
came over his face. His lips quivered, and his countenance 
told unmistakably that the tears which were streaming 
from his eyes were tears of repentance. This he explained 
immediately by saying, 'And it was wrong ; if God wants 
me to stay, he has something for me to do, and I ought not 
to want to go; but I cannot see what it is.' 

"I have seen men in pangs of remorse for sin; I have 
seen them in the agony of conviction of sin; I have seen 
them in sweet contrition under a sense of sin pardoned ; but 
nothing has ever produced such an impression of the 
sinfulness of sin as the sight of this aged servant of the 
Lord, ripe like a shock of corn, weeping in godly sorrow fcr 
that which before we had always esteemed a grace and a 
triumph of faith ; and nothing has ever revealed to me more 
clearly the essence of sin as 'lack of resignation to God's 
will ' as he defined it. 

"One of us said to him, 'Doctor, you have much to live 
for; you have taught us what sin is.' My companion during 
this visit was young John McCoy, my room-mate, who is 
now a useful elder in the church of his native town, Frank- 
lin, Pendleton county, West Virginia. The exhibition of 
the fact that faith may be of such a character as to bring 
quiet and calmness even to a dying father when leaving a 
yet unsaved son, and without ability to speak once mors to 



232 Last Hours. 

him, impressed him, he tells me, more than anything else 
in this deep spiritual experience of your father. It was in- 
deed marvellous. It reminded him of the faith of Abraham, 
■when preparing to offer Isaac. This faith in the covenanted 
mercy of God, you tell me, has been justified by the conver- 
sion of your brother since ; and we have an exemplification 
of the fact, that to take such comfort from faith is reason- 
able. 

"A week later, perhaps, I was again with your father. 
This time alone, if I remember aright. During the visit 
Judge Brockenbrough came into the room. Hearing of his 
restoration from this collapse prompted him to stop on his 
way home from his afternoon law lecture, as it had occa- 
sioned my call. 

"You remember Judge Brockenbrough's august, portly 
presence, his massive head, his strong shaggy brow, his ju- 
dicial face. He, too, was growing infirm and clumsy and 
unwieldy to himself from age. He drew his chair to your 
father's bedside, close by his pillow, and expressed his grati- 
fication at finding him restored in such measure to strength 
and comfort. Dr. "White thanked him, and related some- 
what of his recent experience, emphasizing that to depart 
and be with Christ would be far better. Judge Brocken- 
brough spoke feelingly of the priceless comfort of such a 
Christian state, and expressed with genuine pain his regret 
that such comfort and peace were not his in view of his own 
approaching end. 

"Your father then took his hands in one of his, and plac- 
ing the other upon his shoulder, or head, as the Judge bent 
forward over his bed, assured him that such a peaceful state 
might be his ; told him that often he had thought of and 
prayed for him in preaching, commended our Lord as a Sa- 
viour to him, and persuasively said to him, that to see him a 
Christian was one desire of his heart which he longed to 
have granted before his departure. 



Last Houes. 233 

"During the conversation, Judge Brockenbrough's frame 
shook and trembled, and tears trickled down his cheeks. In 
answer to these appeals he several times ejaculated, ' I will 
try,' ' I hope so,' and finally, asking his prayers, he rose from 
his chair, their hands still clasped in gentle pressure. For 
a moment in silence they looked into each other's faces, and 
then the Judge turned and moved, in deep thought, from 
the room, without another word on the part of either. 

"I too, scarcely daring to speak 'good bye,' followed 
quietly down stairs, feeling indeed that God did have some- 
thing for him to do. I know nothing of Judge Brocken- 
brough's religious history afterwards. My impression is 
that he died in the communion of the Episcopal Church. 

" I have never witnessed a tenderer scene between men, 
nor one which more strongly illustrated the supremacy of 
' things unseen and eternal.' As these two old men talked 
about these things, their frankness, their simplicity, their 
earnestness was sublime, and comported with nothing but 
realities. The world was behind them. They were on the 
confines of eternity ; they knew where they were standing, 
and did not hide the serious verity of the position from 
each other. I saw it, and watched them in awe. . . . 

" One incident of the first visit to your father's room I 
forgot to mention. Your mother was sitting in her usual 
quiet way by the window towards which his bed faced. As 
he was expressing his longing for heaven, he waved his 
hand towards her and said, ' Not because I want to leave 
you, but because I want to be with him (pointing upwards), 
and you will come soon.' 

" Affectionately yours, 

"T. P. Epes." 

Dr. White completely recovered from his throat com- 
plaint that forced him to suspend his ministry. His appe- 
tite became strong and his lungs perfectly sound. His 



234 Last Hours. 

mind was as clear and vigorous as ever. Yet he fell sick in 
an unaccountable manner. Sinking spells, like the one seen 
by Mr. Epes, with unconsciousness, lasting for several days, 
followed one another at intervals of different length. 

In one of these intervals, his physician, seeing the end 
approaching, cautiously and sorrowfully communicated his 
fears to him, saying : ' Doctor, I am very sorry to have to 
inform you that, in my judgment, you have not long to live, 
and to suggest that if you have any preparation to make you 
had better do so at once." 

The dying man looked up, and asked : " Doctor, how long 
do you think I may live ?" 

" Only a few days, at most," said the physician. 

"Well," rejoined the patient, "you need not be sorry to 
tell me that;" and, with a brightening countenance, added, 
" That's the best neics Tve heard for twe?ity years." 

During these attacks his friends would generally lose 
hope. Yet the flame would shoot up in the socket again ; 
he would rally, and seem as well as usual. At last the ap- 
pointed hour came. This time the attack lasted several 
days, and, on November 29, 1873, about twelve o'clock M., 
he sank so gently that they who were looking upon him 
could with difficulty say when he fell asleep. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Memorial Notices of Dr. and Mrs. White. 

By the Session of the Chuech. — Lines .by Mes. M. J. Peeston. — 
By the Synod op Vieginia. — The Faculty of Washington ani> 
Lee Untveesity. — The "Centbal Peesbyteeian." — Kev. John S. 
Geasty, D. D. — Kev. De. Balch. — Lines by Bev. Db. J. A. Wad- 
- dell. — Memobials of Mbs. "White. — By the Session of the 
Chuech and Mbs. Peeston. 

" His life was bright— bright without spot it toots, 
And cannot cease to be. No ominous hour 
Knocks at his door with tidings of mishap. 
Far off is he, above desire and fear ; 
No more submitted to the change and chance 
Of the unsteady planets. Oh ! 'tis well 
With him /" 

By the Session of the Church. 

THE following minute was adopted and ordered to be 
spread upon the records of session : 

" In tender remembrance of our former pastor, who served 
this church in the gospel ministry for nearly twenty years, 
with devout gratitude to God for the blessings conferred 
through his instrumentality, that we may stimulate ourselves 
to renewed diligence in our calling, and that we may present 
to those who may succeed in bearing rule over the church an 
example worthy of all imitation, we place upon our records 
the following brief memorial of the Rev. Wm. S. White, D. D., 
who departed this life at the residence of his son-in-law, Mr. 
J. T. McCrum, November 29, 1873, in the seventy-fourth 
year of his age : 

"He was born in Hanover county, Va., in the year 1800. 
He received his collegiate education at Hampden- Sidney 
College, pursued his theological studies at Union Seminary, 

235 



236 By the Session. 

and began to preach June, 1827. His degree of "D. D." he 
received from Princeton College, 1851. He labored first as 
a domestic missionary in the counties of Nottoway, Amelia, 
Dinwiddie and Lunenburg. From Nottoway he went to 
Scottsville, Albemarle county, where he remained two years. 
About this time his energy and practical skill in dealing with 
men pointed him out as an agent for the American Tract 
Society, which post he filled with eminent zeal and efficiency. 
In the year 1836 he went to Charlottesville, where he was 
at the same time pastor of the church and the founder of a 
female school, which took its place among the most popular 
institutions of learning at that time in Virginia. He was 
also, during his residence at Charlottesville, chaplain for two 
terms at the University of Virginia, and in 1848 he received 
and accepted a unanimous call from this church to become 
its pastor. This connection, commenced at a critical period 
in the history of this congregation, was continued, with un- 
changing fidelity on his part and with undiminished love 
on the part of his people, and without a day's disturbance 
by offence or misunderstanding on either side, until it was 
solemnly terminated by the providence of God, which dis- 
abled him for active duty any longer. How much grace, 
wisdom, prudence, integrity, self-control, watchfulness and 
labor was demanded to accomplish this result can be fully 
comprehended only by those who w r ere connected with the 
affairs of this church immediately preceding his pastorate, 
and who mourned over the existing strife, bitterness and 
heart-burning, and who trembled at the imminent danger 
of schism that would be irreconcilable. How thankful were 
we to a gracious Master who rescued us from this danger, 
and how we admired our pastor, who with firm but gentle 
hand gathered us into harmony again ! 

" Nor was pacification the only or the chief blessing of 
which he was the instrument. It pleased God greatly to 
enlarge the membership of our church. During his first year 



By the Session. 237 

forty-two were added by examination, in 1854 forty- two more, 
in 1857 sixty-one ; and even in the last year of his enfeebled 
labor there were nineteen additions, while each intervening 
year, though less notable, bore steady fruit. Few of God's 
ministers in modern times excelled Dr. White in pastoral work. 
His varied acquaintance with men, and his Christian sympa- 
thy, made him trusted as a counsellor and sought for as a 
comforter. Every one felt at ease in the presence of so genial 
a representative of Christianity, while at the same time he 
never was tempted into levity unbecoming his sacred pro- 
fession. All his varied excellences were conspicuous and 
charming in him as moderator of session. Surrounded by 
his brethren and advisers he seemed to feel the confidence 
in them which he inspired for himself. Always well ac- 
quainted with the business in hand, but never dogmatic, he 
skillfully guided the deliberations of the body to a harmoni- 
ous conclusion. Never while he presided over this session 
was there a single instance of unkindliness manifested 
among the members, and very generally the decisions were 
unanimous. As a member of the higher courts of the church 
he was influential in his wisdom, his familiarity with the busi- 
ness before the body, his unselfishness, and his attractive man- 
ner of speaking. His standing with his brethren and his 
position in the church at large were all that he could wish, 
and the more honorable that, being unsought, they were un- 
embittered by jealousy. Nor was he more remarkable for 
the ability and steadfastness with which he supported his 
own branch of the church than for his charity to all sister 
churches. Nor did he take his distinguished place because 
he was thrown only among men of mediocrity. He was the 
cotemporary, with more or less difference of age, of such 
ministers in the Synod of Virginia as Dr. Benjamin Bice, Dr. 
Baxter, Dr. Speece, Dr. Bunner, Dr. McFarland, Dr. Jesse 
Armistead, Dr. McGuffey, Dr. Plumer, and others. . Like- 
wise, by his residence at the University and at Lexington, 



238 By the Session. 

lie was subjected to the test of comparison with men noted 
for more than usual culture. Also in his day some great 
questions were agitated. He met with Jeffersonian infidel- 
ity about Charlottesville ; he acted in the controversy which 
divided the Presbyterian Church in the United States ; he 
was in the midst of the great revival period, with its power 
and errors ; the temperance movement, with its true phil- 
anthropy and hurtful fanaticism, called for his considera- 
tion; and in his latter days the relations of church and 
state were presented to view in our late struggle. He 
watched by the cradle of Union Seminary, and labored all 
his life for its success. 

" It is not meant to claim for Dr. White any exaggerated 
importance in connection with any of these great questions, 
but it is simple truth and justice to affirm that never in re- 
gard to any of them did he commit a serious error. 

"Thus did it please God in his providence to test his 
servant by the vicissitudes of a life unusually varied, and 
thus, in the judgment of those who knew him best (must 
we Dot believe, by the judgment of his Master?) he proved 
himself true in every relation of life — as husband, father, 
citizen, preacher, pastor, Christian. And one test yet re- 
mained — the last. He had come to us when we were torn 
by distraction, aDd we saw how, by the grace of God, he 
could show the power of religiou in calming the stormy 
waves of passion. Infirmity came upon him, and he ex- 
hibited that rare grace of humility in counting himself un- 
able for the work that was before him, and so he gave up 
the church he loved, and that loved him, into the hands of 
another. And yet another lesson he was to learn, and teach 
us while he was learning it : the work that he loved was just 
on the one hand, and the crown was just on the other ; but 
he was not permitted either to do the work or to take the 
crown ; but, between the two, he was called on to lio upon a 
couch of languishing, and wait for the words, ' Well done, 



By the Session. 239 

enter thou.' He waited and taught us to wait, and he has 
entered into the joy of his Lord. 

" We did not drape in black the church for his funeral. 
"Why should we? There was nothing mournful there. 
Elisha did not mourn when he saw the chariot that bore 
Elijah from mortal vision -, he cried, 'My father! my fa- 
ther! The chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof!' — 
anxious only not to lose the ascending prophet's mantle. And 
so we, if we may but share our pastor's spirit, needed not to 
weep when we saw a full life brought to a full end, and 
stood as a congregation with bended heads to receive his 
benediction at the close of the noblest sermon he ever 
preached — the sermon of a perfect life." 

The following lines, adopted by the session, were com- 
posed by Mrs. Margaret J. Preston, and had the following- 
caption : 

"Harvested. 

"William S. White, D. D., Died in Lexington, Va., November 29, 
1873, Aged Seventy-three. 

' ' It was late in a life's calm autumn ; 
The green on the blades grew sere ; 
And ripened, and rich, and mellow, 
The corn was filling the ear. 

"In the flush of the budding springtime, 
Had the living seed been sown ; 
And under the dews of heaven, 
In shade and in shine had grown. 

"The heat of the noon would wither, 
At times, its marrowy leaves ; 
It bent to the brunt ox the tempes-fes 
That darkened the summer eves. 

"He knew how to temper and portion 
The sunlight, the cloud, the air ; 
He knew what its root most needed, 
He saw what its blades could bear 



240 By the Synod. 

"And once and again he lopped it, 
For sake of the fruit, he said ; 
And bravely it bore the wounding, 
Tho' under the hurt — it bled. 

"And so, when the dim November 
Came with its mists at morn, 
And the autumn frost into whiteness 
Was bleaching the tassel'd corn ; 

' When the golden ears were f ruitened, 
And the grain was sweet to the core, 
Then the Master, who saw it needed 
To stand in the field no more— 

"For the cold and the mould of winter 
To shrivel and shrink its leaf — 
Said, Put in thy sickle, Reaper, 
And garner my full-ripe sheaf!" 

At a meeting of the session of the Lexington Presbyterian 
Church it was — 

" Resolved, That Dr. Pratt be requested to deliver a dis- 
course memorial of the life and character of Dr. White." 

By the Synod of Virginia, in Winchestek, Octobek, 1874. 

" The Rev. "William Spottswood White departed this life 
in Lexington, Va. 

"He "was born in the county of Hanover, Va., July 30, 
1800. His parents were connected with the congregation 
gathered in that part of the colony by the Rev. Samuel 
Davies. His collegiate education was at Hampden-Sidney, 
and while a student of that institution the ministry of its 
venerable president, Dr. Moses Hoge, was blessed in awaken- 
ing such convictions of sin as led to his conversion. 

" His theological studies were pursued under the instruc- 
tion of the Rev. John H. Rice, D. D., and he was one among 
the first students under that eminent professor of theology 
in Union Seminary. He was licensed to preach the gospel 



By the Synod. 241 

by Hanover Presbytery in 1827. His first field of labor was 
in the counties of Nottoway, Amelia, Lunenburg and Din- 
widdie, but after one year it was mainly in Nottoway. Some- 
time during his service in this county he was ordained to the 
full work of the ministry. 

"In June, 1832, he removed to Scottsville, Va., and was 
installed as pastor of the church in that place. After two 
years of service here, during which his labors were greatly 
prospered and the church greatly increased, he accepted an 
appointment as General Agent of the Virginia (a branch of 
the American) Tract Society, with a special reference to the 
' volume enterprise/ which was resigned after two years of 
arduous and very useful work 

" In May, 1836, he was settled as pastor of the church in 
Charlottesville, giving for a time a portion of his labors to 
the neighboring churches of Bethel and South Plains. Dur- 
ing his residence here ho conducted a large and prosperous 
female school, and was twice elected as chaplain to the Uni- 
versity of Virginia. 

" In September, 1848, Dr. White, having accepted a call 
to become the pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Lexing- 
ton, Va., removed to that place, which was his home till 
called to rest from his labors. 

"Such is a mere outline of the principal events of this 
long and useful ministry. If filled up with the details which 
might be supplied, it would present before us the portrait of 
a beloved, devoted servant of Christ, worthy of the admira- 
tion of all and to be held in everlasting remembrance. Our 
departed brother was a man of uncommon endowments. 
With no relish for metaphysical subtleties, or abstruse spec- 
ulations of any sort, he had. a solid, vigorous understanding, 
a thoroughly good common sense, a wide knowledge of men 
and the springs of human action, together with a remark- 
able tact in finding access to them. He was an able, earnest, 
impressive and most successful preacher, with a rare gift 
16 



242 By the Synod. 

for illustrating the subject in hand, both by similitudes and 
by incidents cf general history, or those which had come 
under his own observation. In every field in which he was 
called to labor his ministry had an ample seal of the divine 
blessing. His fine social qualities, together with his tender 
sympathy, amiable, pacific disposition, and fervent piety, 
endeared him to all as a friend and pastor. He was an em- 
inently wise, good and loving husband and father, and his 
household was a scene of affection and peace. In every re- 
lation of life he was an example worthy of imitation. His 
end was full of Christian peace ; his memory is precious 
among us, and his name remains among the good and the 
great which so profusely adorn and enrich the history of 
the Synod of Virginia. We thankfully adore that grace by 
which Christ has been magnified, both in his life and in his 
death." 

The following account of the memorial services of the 
Synod of Virginia, at which the foregoing paper was 
adopted, is taken from The Young 'Virginian, a monthly 
periodical edited by the Be v. William T. Price: 

" Synodical Memorial Services. 

"The services referred to occurred on Saturday morning, 
October 24, 1874, at Winchester, Va. The first hours of 
the session had been chiefly occupied in hearing reports 
from committees. 

"Dr. William Brown's paper was an affectionate tribute 
to the memory of Be v. W. S. White, D. D., whose useful 
labors in Nottoway, Scottsville, Charlottesville and Lexing- 
ton, along with abundant services in other departments and 
places, and exemplary Christian life, have rendered his name 
very precious to the whole church. 

"Profound silence reigned over the assembly, and every 
sentence was heeded that told how good and faithful 
brethren had toiled, triumphed and died. After a momen- 



• By the Synod. 243 

tary pause, upon the conclusion of the memorial, Rev. Dr. 
Preston, of the First Church, Richmond, one of Dr. "White's 
spiritual sons, felt constrained by his emotions to arise, and, 
•with words tremulous with filial admiration, bore touching- 
witness to the usefulness of that pastor, in his opinion the 
grandest and best of his race. He hoped that other breth- 
ren would be encouraged to labor on in hope, so that, when 
they passed away, some spiritual son would rise up and call 
their memory blessed. 

"Dr. Pryor, the friend of Dr. White's youth, who had 
known him intimately all his ministerial lif e, referred sweetly 
to the lovely and pleasant relations that had ever existed be- 
tween them. 

"He called attention to the fact, that while Dr. WTiite was 
received into the church by Dr. Hoge, and had been greatly 
influenced by his ministry, yet the first permanent and sav- 
ing impressions were made by the fidelity of the Rev. E. 
Pollard, an humble and obscure licentiate. This person, a 
licensed minister, never received a call, and was never or- 
dained. He visited the outposts of Hanover Presbytery, 
trying to do good wherever he could induce any to hear 
him. 

"Mr. Pollard became much interested in young W 7 hite's 
spiritual welfare, and having met him one Sabbath afternoon 
near Hampden-Sidney, he conversed with him on the sub- 
ject of religion, and the student was savingly impressed. 

"This fact was mentioned, Dr. Pryor said, to encourage 
brethren in humble spheres of service to work for Jesus, and 
he may use their works in bringing about grand results. 

"Dr. B. M. Smith felt that, as mention had been made of 
Dr. Moses Hoge's influence, it was also due to the memory 
of the Rev. Mr. Pollard to say, that his instructions had 
been rendered very influential by the divine blessing in 
moulding the character of the useful pastor, Dr. White, 
whose life the Synod now commemorated. 



244 By the Synod. • 

"The frequency "with which God blesses humble men in 
working out great results should be an encouragement to us 
all to labor in season and out of season. The speaker agreed 
to what had been said of Dr. "White, that, while great and 
noble, he succeeded because he looked for and received 
power from above, and so consecrated his time, talents and 
opportunities. Like greatness and usefulness might be at- 
tained by us all, were each to make the life-long effort to 
use faithfully the gifts bestowed upon him, and to seek con- 
tinually the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 

" The last to speak was the Rev. Dr. Kirkpatrick, whose 
privilege it was to enjoy precious seasons of prayer and con- 
versation with Dr. White in his last days. On the speaker's 
return from the previous meeting of Synod, he heard of his 
alarming illness, and hastened at once to his bedside. "What 
he said in that interview amounted to this : ' My work on 
earth is done, and I wish to be where I can begin anew my 
Saviour's service.' 

" On the evening preceding his death, he was heard to say, 
C I want home.' It was supposed that delirium had returned, 
and one said to him, 'You are at home.' 'O yes,' he said, 
'I know I am at home, and a better home none need ever 
want ; but I want the home where my Saviour is/ 

"He soon after went home. A place had been prepared 
for him, and Jesus had come, as he promised. Truly it is 
a great blessing to be able to look upon heaven as our 
home. 

"At this point it happily occurred that a ministerial brother, 
the Rev. J. M. Clymer, proposed that Synod would unite in 
singing these stanzas of the 635th hymn: 

" ' I would not live alway, I ask not to stay, 

Where storm after storm rises dark o'er the way ; 

The few lurid mornings that dawn on us here, 

Are enough for life's woes, full enough for its cheer. 



By the Synod. 245 

" 'I would not live alway, thus fettered by siu, 
Temptation without, corruption within. 
E'en the rapture of pardon is mingled with fears, 
And the cup of thanksgiving with penitent tears. 

44 'Who, who would live alway, away from his God, 
Away from yon heaven, that blissful abode, 
Where the rivers of pleasure flow o'er the bright plains, 
And the noontide of glory eternally reigns — ■ 

' ' ' Where the saints of all ages in harmony meet, 
Their Saviour and brethren transported to greet ; 
While the anthems of rapture unceasingly roll, 
And the smile of the Lord is the feast of the soul ?' 

"These appropriate words were sung with much emotion, 
and then all bowed in prayer, while the minister who had 
prayed at the bedside of the dying pastor, 'who wanted 
home,' led the Synod. It was asked of God that the memo- 
rials just read might be the means of encouraging the 
brethren to gird anew for the conflicts before them, and 
that all may be so admonished to number their days as to 
apply their hearts unto wisdom. Upon rising from prayer, 
the motion was put, in a tender and subdued tone, and car- 
ried, that unanimously adopted the memorial s, and ordered 
them to be recorded. 

" Not a member present will soon forget that memorable 
hour, and all hearts seemed fused in one by the hallowed in- 
fluences that reigned over the vast assembly. It was a 
solemn and tender prelude to the services of another memo- 
rial scene, to which many were looking forward on the fol- 
lowing Sabbath afternoon. It is well to make solemn and 
special mention of the holy dead: 

" ' For the bright memories of the holy dead, 
The blessed ones departed, shine on us, 
Like the pure splendors of some clear, large star, 
Which pilgrims, travelling onward, at their back 
Leave, and at every moment see not now; 
Yet whensoe'er they list, may pause and turn, 
And with its glories gild their iaces still. ' " 



246 Faculty of the University. 

By the Faculty of "Washington and Lee University. 
" Washington and Lee University, Dec. 1, 1873. 

"At a meeting of the Faculty held this day, the following 
minute touching the death of Rev. William S. White, D. D., 
was adopted: 

"The Faculty of Washington and Lee University have re- 
ceived with profound sorrow the intelligence of the death, 
on the 29th ult., of the venerable Dr. Wm. S. White, for 
many years pastor of the Presbyterian Church in this place, 
and during a part of that time member of the Board of 
Trustees of this institution. He was also the father of an 
esteemed colleague, Professor J. J. White. Throughout the 
term of his residence in our community, Dr. White was the 
active, untiring friend of this institution, and, in every way 
possible to him, sought to promote its interests. His in- 
fluence over its students, both from the pulpit and in private 
intercourse, was great and ever salutary. For these services 
we must long hold his name in grateful and honorable remem- 
brance. 

"Apart from the claims on our regards above mentioned, 
Dr. White was worthy of the highest respect for his eminent 
usefulness as a minister of the gospel, and for the almost 
unequalled confidence and affection bestowed on him, not by 
the members of his own communion only, but also by those 
of other branches of the Christian church, and by the pub- 
lic at large. He was a man of an enlarged catholic spirit, 
of wide benevolence and most attractive piety, an able ad- 
vocate of truth and righteousness, a true type of the Chris- 
tian gentleman. 

"The Faculty further express their gratification with the 
order of the President suspending for this day all academic 
exercises, that the members of the University may attend 
the obsequies of one so well entitled to all the respect they 
could pay to his memory." 

"From the minutes of the Faculty. W t m. Dold, Clerk." 



The Central Presbyterian. 247 

An editorial in Tlie Central Presbyterian, by the Rev. Dr. 
Wm. Brown; 

" Death of Rev. Wm. S. White, D. D. 

"This venerable minister of the gospel 'entered into rest' 
on Saturday, the 29th nit. His age was seventy-three years. 
"While the intelligence of his departure cannot surprise any 
who knew that his health had been for years quite infirm, 
yet there are very many who will think with sorrow that 
they can see his face no more, never again hear a voice which 
so earnestly and powerfully proclaimed to them the precious 
message of salvation. . . . 

"About the close of the late eventful war, there were 
manifest tokens that his health was giving way, and as soon 
as the line of duty was made plain, he resigned his respon- 
sible trust, laboring on, however, in another sphere (in charge 
of the Ann Smith Academy), till the forces of life were too 
far spent for longer service. From that time he knew that 
his active work was done. With three of his children im- 
mediately around him, in the midst of a people whom he 
had so long loved and served, and by whom he was cherished 
with a warm affection, he felt that he had little to do but to 
'wait all his appointed days till his change should come.' It 
was our privilege to see him last September, and to find 
during an interview of two hours how completely cheerful 
and happy were his last days. We talked of the past, of 
the present, and of the future, and concerning it all he 
seemed about as thankful and hopeful as a man could be. . . 

"'His decline was gradual; and while unable to engage in 
active duty, he was at times able to make visits to his chil- 
dren distant from him, and when at home to be occasionally 
present at the worship of the sanctuary — all of which were 
greatly enjoyed. While never losing his interest in matters 
affecting the good of society or of the State, and especially 
of the church, yet he frequently spoke of dying, and would 



248 The Central Presbyterian. 

say that, as lie could do nothing more here, he prayed for 
death, remarking that he did not think it wrong to pray for 
death any more than to pray for life, but all in submission 
to the divine will. Since the failure of his health, he would 
often lament that he was so useless, and would say that, as 
his work on earth was done, he wished it to begin in heaven. 
He frequently remarked that he had outlived most of his 
cotemporaries, and had more friends in heaven than he had 
on earth, and he took the greatest pleasure in naming them, 
and in anticipating an early meeting with them above. 

"For more than two weeks before his decease he had 
been confined to his bed with a severe cold. On Saturday, 
the 22nd ult., he grew decidedly worse, and gradually sank 
down into the arms of death without any acute suffering. 
On that day he said to Mrs. White, 'I want to go home.' 
Thinking that his mind was perhaps wandering, she replied, 
'You are at home.' ' O yes,' he answered, c this is my earthly 
home, but Iwant to go to my heavenly home.' 

"On Sunday, the 23rd, when he was thought to be dying, 
a number of his old friends came in to take a last farewell. 
Observing that there was something unusual taking place, 
and seeming to understand what was apprehended, he said, 
'This is a small matter, a very small matter.' 

" During his last hours, when he seemed to know nothing 
else, if asked, 'Do you know Jesus Christ 1 ?' — 'O yes,' he 
would reply, 'he is my Saviour.' 

"About midnight he fell into a sleep, from which he did 
not again awake in this life. But about midday on the 24th 
he breathed his last, without the least struggle or appear- 
ance of pain, and 'entered into rest.' 

"Thus was the dear old pastor safely 'harvested,' accord- 
ing to the sentiment so beautifully expressed on another 
page by one who knew and loved- him well: 'Thou shalt 
come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn 
cometh in his season.' 



The Central Presbyterian. 249 

"There is only One who 'knoweth our frame perfectly, 
t>ut even we can discern to some extent the imperfections of 
one another, even of the best. But those who had the most 
thorough knowledge of this good man will say most confi- 
dently that such was his character and such his life, that his 
presence in any community was an unspeakable blessing to 
it. In his family, no wife could mourn a more devoted hus- 
band, no children a more devoted father — 'they rise up and 
call him blessed.' 

"As a man, he was eminently amiable and friendly; as a 
citizen, upright and patriotic He was ' an able minister of 
the New Testament.' While not given to the profounder 
studies usefully explored by some, he was endowed with a 
vigorous mind, which enabled him to hold his subject under 
the grasp of a strong common sense. This was aided by a 
remarkable power of illustration, drawn both from facts and 
similitudes. He had a benevolent countenance, a brilliant, 
expressive eye, and a voice of great compass and power. All 
these, animated by a heart full of devout affections, rendered 
his preaching often highly impressive. 

"His social talent was admirable. Full of anecdote and 
reminiscences of the times through which he had passed, 
cheerful even to hilarity, yet ever ready, and without any af- 
fectation, to turn his mind to the most serious things, his 
company was sought and welcomed not less by the youngest 
than by the oldest. He was exceedingly beloved as a pastor, 
and there are thousands of good people in Virginia who, as 
they receive the tidings of his death, will think of years gone 
by, when, in some season of affliction, or other occasion in 
the family circle, or going to the house of God in company, 
they 'took sweet counsel together.' 

"These remarks could be much extended, as memory 
brings up its stores of the past ; but let this suffice, as in- 
dicating our estimate of a beloved brother so widely known, 
so greatly revered, and who is now everywhere so sincerely 



250 Rev. Dr. Geasty. 

lamented. Blessed be his memory ! Thanks be to him by 
whose ascension to heaven such pastors are given to the 
church 'for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying 
of the body of Christ,' and under whose intercession they 
are translated to the church triumphant above." 

' ' [For the Christian Observer. 
" Sketch of the Rev. Wm. S. "White, D. D. 
"By the Rev. J. S. Gkasty, D. D. 
" During the last two years the Synod of Virginia has lost 
three of its most distinguished members. Dr. Ramsey went 
first, then Dr. Bocock, and now Dr. White fol]ows Dr. 
Ramsey was a laborious, patient, accurate expounder of the 
word, and, under the system which he adopted in connec- 
tion with such preaching, his congregation grew steadily, 
and the flock were noted for their attainments in scriptural 
knowledge. Dr. Bocock was scholarly, impetuous, bold, 
eloquent, and though irregular and somewhat eccentric, rose 
at times to the very highest pitch of pulpit eloquence. Dr. 
White was a man between these two, and possessed a com- 
bination of qualities that are rarely found to unite in any 
single individual. 

" The impression that young White made in college and 
at the Seminary, upon professors, students and the com- 
munity generally, was favorable and pleasant. Unlike many, 
he had no blunders committed at this period of preparation 
to mourn over in the future. His manner was so consistent, 
his piety so symmetrical, his procedure throughout so pro- 
per, that comrades and all others pointed to him as a model. 
The memory of his exemplary life remained fresh down to 
the period when the writer himself became a student in 
Prince Edward. 

"After completing his course of theological study, under 
Drs. Hoge and Rice, he entered upon the work of the min- 
istry in a missionary field embracing Nottoway and the ad- 



Eev. Dk. Grasty. 251 

joining counties. The sphere chosen was unambitious, but 
it afforded material adapted exactly to develop those quali- 
ties in the young minister which, in the ripeness of manhood, 
were to make him so useful. Had this preacher, as others 
have done, waited for a call to a large place, and with a sal- 
ary to correspond, the whole current of his work and char- 
acter would have been mournfully marred. But, after con- 
sultation with wise men and good, he selected a region of 
country that seemed to need, more than any other, the min- 
istrations of the word. And yet young White, impeded as 
he was by certain infirmities of the flesh, might, with a fair 
show of reason, have excused himself from a field whose 
duties demanded physical endurance. But this bodily hin- 
drance did not move him, neither was he driven from his 
purpose by the fear of meagre compensation. 

" Souls were to be saved, there was a likelihood of useful- 
ness, the people wanted him, and the youthful minister 
stood ready to make the experiment. And in this case, as 
in every other, the bed is easy just in proportion as the hand 
of providence helps to make it for us. Trouble that often 
follows the preacher through life can be traced, for the most 
part, to a wrong step in the beginning. The laborer, either 
through unhallowed motives or else from failure to enquire 
prayerfully and submissively about duty, rushes into a sec- 
tion of the vineyard unadapted to his talent. Mischief and 
sorrow ensue, and then the rumor of these complications 
becomes the source of further trials. Happy indeed is the 
young minister who can go without complaint to any position 
in the church where the Master calls. 

"Those missionary days in Nottoway were a period to 
which Dr. White ever looked back with satisfaction and de- 
light. It was then that he gathered those stores of infor- 
mation in regard to persons of every rank that fitted him 
afterwards to discharge those responsible and delicate tasks 
entrusted to his prudence. And here, as elsewhere, one 



252 Rev. Dr. Grasty. 

whom God designed for prominence is passed through a 
school of discipline and preparation adapted to this end. 
Nottoway, in those days, offered to the preacher opportuni- 
ties to observe mankind in every grade of society, from the 
liighest to the lowest, and Dr. White was the very man to 
avail himself of the opening. Hence at one time he was 
found in the cabin of ' Uncle Jack,' and then again seated a 
welcome guest in the mansion of the refined, cultured and 
gifted Dr. Jones. Nor did this contact with the opposites 
of society ever compromise the minister. But the very con- 
trary of this was the invariable result. The missionary 
went from house to house, and from familiar intercourse 
with the people learned to know their wants, and then, when 
Sabbath came, the discourse was so framed as to suit the 
needs of every one, from the wealthiest down to the very 
poorest. Dr. White was deeply pious, loved the gospel sin- 
cerely, and preached it in simplicity. He possessed the 
power of adaptation so remarkably that each class in the 
community claimed him for its preacher. And yet no one 
ever charged the minister with selfishness and insincerity. 
He strove after plainness of speech, so that the ignorant and 
* wayfaring ' might get their portion in due season. 

" Among his hearers was a large element of the colored 
race. In his sermons he ever remembered the necessities 
of these untutored ones. He even held special services for 
their benefit. As a warning to young preachers against 
high-sounding and far-fetched words, the Doctor frequently 
related the following : ' One afternoon, an appointment for 
the negroes, I called upon a visiting brother to occupy my 
place. He consented, and began the sermon with these 
words, ' My friends, it is in morals as in plrysics, like causes 
produce like results.' When the services were over I ven- 
tured to enquire of a colored man what he thought of the 
preaching. He responded with feeling, 'Master, I did not 
like that sermon ; it had too much physic in it for me.' 



Kev. Dr. Grasty. 253 

" Dr. White's bearing was so manly and unexceptionaole, 
and withal so uniformly courteous and gentle, that every 
family and individual over his wide district hailed him as a 
friend ; for in his open, noble countenance it could be read 
instinctively that the heart of this servant of Christ beat 
kindly toward all. Hence, during every year of his sojourn 
in Nottoway, he gained ground with the entire population, 
and the friends he made there remained steadfast to the 
end. So deeply did he grow into the confidence and affec- 
tion of the people that the prospect of losing him awakened 
anxiety and universal regret ; for he had slowly, but surely, 
worked his way to a position whence he could be heartily wel- 
comed to a thousand Virginia homes. His coming, without 
an exception, was anticipated with pleasure, and the an- 
nouncement that he would preach at any place drew forth 
large congregations. 

"What Dr. White was in efficiency in this field of labor 
he continued to be as the agent of the American Tract So- 
ciety, and as pastor, teacher and chaplain in Charlottesville- 
and at the University of Virginia. Indeed, these last posi- 
tions offered still broader opportunities for the natural bent 
of his mind, whilst it widened, almost without limit, the cir- 
cle of his acquaintance; for at this time he was thrown 
into contact with learned professors ; and as the instructor 
of young ladies and chaplain for young men, he possessed 
advantages for the study of the disposition of the two sexes 
rarely ever surpassed. And these facilities were eagerly 
improved. Youth from every section of the land took home 
pleasant recollections of the teacher and the preacher, and 
in after years Dr. White never visited a neighborhood where 
he did not find some friend of his earlier days waiting to re- 
ceive him. . . . 

"This man has gone to his rest full of years and full of 
honors, and the Virginia Synod scarcely ever lost a member 
whose name is as familiar in so many households, and whose 



254 Rev. Dr. Grasty. 

labors while living were acceptable to a greater range of cul- 
ture or to a greater variety in social standing. Considered, 
therefore, from the standpoint of natural gifts, and the po- 
sitions that he filled, and the way in which he filled them, 
the ministerial career of Dr. White was a splendid success, 
and deserves, as much as that of any other pastor or preacher 
of the present time, to be held up for imitation before the 
minds of the young ministers of to-day. 

" The Balance of Character. 
"Before this sketch is closed it will be well to inquire 
into the precise qualities that entered into the mind and 
heart of a man who accomplished so much, and this without 
painful friction. Especially among young men it is a fashion 
to judge of intellectual excellence by the presence of some 
one endowment that overtops all the rest. The speaker 
who startles with scintillations of fancy, the logician who 
puzzles with his logic, a public caterer of any kind who 
makes a specific branch of study, this individual attracts 
the youthful imagination, and is denominated a genius. 
Measured by such a standard as this, Dr. White came mani- 
festly short. There was scarcely a single thing in the whole 
compass of action or of thought in which Dr. White excelled 
that was dependent upon the exercise of one faculty by it- 
self. There was altogether too much breadth about his 
mental powers for this. It would be healthful for our youth 
to comprehend the fact that eccentricities of every kind are 
not a sign of strength, but of weakness. Intellect of the 
highest type is capacious at all points. It was difficult for 
Goethe's friends to determine whether this most gifted son 
of Germany ought to be poet, philosopher, statesman, orator, 
or the commander of an army. And the same was true of 
Napoleon, Julius Caesar, Mahomet and others. The more 
exalted and varied the gifts in the mind- world, the fewer the 
irregularities. 



Rev. Dr. Geasty. 255 

" The secret of Dr. White's success was in the nice balance 
of forces. In his finely-developed intellect every faculty had 
a place, and it was these in combination that produced re- 
sults so opportune. "When sitting with him in the Board of 
Visitors at Union Theological Seminary, or watching his 
processes upon the floor of Synod, in both of which bodies 
he stood among the foremost, I observed that while other 
debaters pressed a single point with skill, Dr. White usually 
went over the case in all its parts. It was not that he was 
equal to Dr. Ramsey in his exhaustive methods of research, 
or to Dr. Bocock in the ardent, scholarly, eloquent outburst 
of thought, but his power consisted in this, that while cer- 
tain men of rare, particular gifts occasionally succeeded 
grandly, this man almost invariably drove the nail directly 
into the right place. 

" He seldom mistook his man or the temper of an assem- 
bly before which he stood. With a temperament that cor- 
responded in its make-up with his mental gifts, he warily 
watched the main chance, and was ready when the moment 
came. As a pastor, for instance, he was ever en rapport 
with elders, and this not because he lacked force of will, for 
no man destitute of vigor could have filled such positions, 
but because he collected the particulars of disposition and 
character, and then, with the certainty of deduction, calcu- 
lated the opinions, prejudices and weight of each. And 
having these at command beforehand, he knew precisely 
how to act. And I will here venture to surmise that he 
never, in his entire ministry, forced a measure through the 
session. And yet no pastor's purposes were "ever more fully 
carried out. Dr. White was a diplomat, but with conscience 
always uppermost. He usually accomplished his plans, but 
did this in such a way as to leave no room for gall. He 
watched and often waited for the fruit to ripen, that with a 
gentle touch he might bring it to his hand. 

" He was careful not to lose, if possible, a friend already 



256 Rev. Br. Grasty. 

gained, whilst lie would turn aside, through heat or cold, to 
add another to the list; for he considered that, to a min^ 
ister more particularly, there was power in the multiplica- 
tion of sterling friendships. Yea, it was even best, if princi- 
ple allowed, to have the good wishes of the humblest, since 
in the mutations of life the enmity of the feeble may be 
turned into an annoyance or else a serious hurt. 

"Most earnestly did Dr. White seek to make friends 
among his younger brethren. And the wisdom of this 
course was justified fully by the sequel ; for in every Pres- 
tery of the Old Dominion and all over the South there are 
scores and hundreds of ministers who cherish gratitude in 
their hearts for the cheering words of counsel spoken to 
them in days of inexperience by this faithful father in Is- 
rael. And there is not a man of this number who did not 
rejoice in every good thing ^ hich befell the Lexington pas- 
tor; and the poorest of them all, had necessity arisen, would 
have divided to him of the weal which fell to his lot. Dis- 
regarding such wisdom as this, there have been ' fathers ' 
whose bearing towards their juniors savored of exaction and 
severity ; and while these were tolerated for their ability, 
yet they elicited no affection, and upon the conscience and 
recollection abided no sense of obligation. Such men were 
feared rather than loved, and when missed in the courts, the 
absence of these censores morum was rather a relief than a 
sorrow. 

"Moreover, there was so much of soundness in the moral, 
intellectual and physical constitution of Dr. White, that he 
never ceased to be interested in everything which concerned 
the individual, the family, society, and the church of God. 
And while a gentleman of the truest dignity, never indulg- 
ing in a doubtful expression or act, yet he was wide awake 
to refined humor, and enjoyed a laugh with the heartiness 
of a boy. It made one think better of his species to witness 
the freedom of this man's soul from the envious, morose,. 



Eev. Dr. Grasty. 257 

complaining and uncharitable; for in the sunshine and 
hopefulness of his sympathizing spirit, it was impossible for 
anything foreboding and spiteful long to exist. He was a 
husband of whom the noble wife of his bosom might be 
proud; a father, upon whose children, if his mantle fall, 
happy will it be for them, as it shall be a happiness again 
to those who are to follow. Dr. White, like God's servant 
of old, ruled his own house; but he ruled it rather through 
example than by oft-repeated words. The even tenor'of his 
days, the joy that beamed in his open and ingenuous face, 
that harvest which came to him so richly as the result of his 
own timely sowing — these visible evidences of how much bet- 
ter it is to be kind and true and good, went further than a 
thousand sermons to impress upon the family the policy of 
high manhood. 

"Judged by the criterion of the schools, Dr. White was 
not a great preacher; and yet, tested by the verdict of 
the multitude (with wiiom the preacher, as such, has 
mainly to deal), few ministers in our denomination could 
secure a larger suffrage. He was ever certain of consider- 
ation from the cultivated, while the common people, on the 
other hand, always heard him gladly. He possessed a rare 
store of anecdotes, and with these he illustrated the truth 
so aptly that they who came to hear him once were sure to 
come again. With a tall figure, broad shoulders, and a 
head of unusual dimensions crowning all, his appearance in 
the pulpit was specially engaging. The forehead was not 
only high, but broad withal, the eye brilliant, the counte- 
nance defaced with no imperfect feature. These outward ad- 
vantages, added to a voice of the deepest and widest compass, 
and all again crowned with the graces of God's Spirit, fitted 
him to be, as he ever was, a favorite with the masses. In 
addition, there fell from his lips now and then in the ser- 
mon such revelations of practical knowledge, such masterly 
thrusts at the inner workings of the heart, that these search- 
17 



258 Kev. Dr. Grasty. 

ing utterances alone left no room for complaint to the most 
exacting. And wpon all, of every degree, either as to lite- 
rary attainments or social position, there was that in the 
tout ensemble of the man which enforced everywhere, in the 
pulpit and out of it, the profoundest respect. . . . 

"Dr. White in Prayer. 

" Three men in the Presbyterian Church of this country 
towered above all their fellows in the ability which God gave 
them to lead the soul of the suppliant up to the very altar 
'where the cherubim stretched forth their wings over the 
mercy-seat.' These godly men were Drs. McFarland, Eice 
and White. 

"Dr. McFarland was, so to speak, more simple and child- 
like in his modes. He drew near to the Father with confi- 
dence, and stood at his feet, pleading in gentle, earnest, ur- 
gent words, as though there abided in the bosom a certainty 
of final success. Again and again did he return to the mark, 
each time with an inspiration that shone around his head 
and trilled in his voice. . . . 

"Dr. Ben. Rice and Dr. Wm. S. White very much resem- 
bled each other in prayer. These two and Dr. McFarland 
were notably dissimilar. On the other hand, Drs. Rice and 
White were so alike that, with closed eyes, the worshippers 
could almost mistake the one for the other. The main dif- 
ference was, if I may express it so, that Dr. Rice possessed 
a condensed energy, and now and then there gushed forth 
a sublimity of utterance which did not belong, in the same 
degree, to the other. But about each there existed a pro- 
priety, decorum and genuine majesty that I never knew sur- 
passed. In the outset there was not the quickened pulse, 
the ardor, the childlike hopefulness and scope (as in Dr. 
McFarland), but these led off more with the air and mien 
of the king's officers, who entered the sovereign's council 
chamber through the accustomed and time-honored forms. 



Rev. Dr. Grasty. 259 

"A Criterion of Greatness. 

" In a word, if greatness is to be decided according to 
"what a person does, then the name of William Spottswood 
White must be enrolled among the great. For he was tried 
in four different fields, and one of these the most delicate 
and difficult possible to be conceived ; and yet wherever he 
went, there followed the plaudit, 'Well done, good and faith- 
ful servant.' Can greatness encompass more? Nay, have 
not the great, defined by certain standards, conspicuously 
failed where Dr. White confessedly succeeded? Let it be 
granted that he was not dazzling in his rhetoric, scholastic 
and formal in his logic, classic in his tastes, and profound 
and varied in his learning. What boots it to the proprietor 
of all these, if there be in any man such a rare combination 
of gifts and graces that the latter can accomplish noble ends 
for which the former are insufficient? Which of these two 
classes does the church most need this hour? If there be 
large attainments, so much the better; but as between in- 
sufficiency with this and efficiency without it, no man of 
sense need hesitate for an answer. 

"Not that Dr. White was destitute of culture. Very far 
from it. He sat a portion of each day in a well-assorted li- 
brary, and no pastor in Lexington Presbytery knew better 
how to use it. Yet it was not upon literature, science, or 
the outcome of genius, that this ambassador of Christ mainly 
relied. But he held within himself, strengthened and guided 
by God's grace, that diversity of gifts which is unequalled by 
all learning, and that roundness and symmetry of charac- 
ter in conjunction with deep piety, and such literary stores 
as reasonable industry can attain. This is the type of Chris- 
tian minister which it is healthful and refreshing to set be- 
fore our young ministers of to-day. True, we want the men 
of science, the proficient in ' tongues ' and philosophy. A few 
of these the church must have, as watchmen, here and there, 
upon her walls; but Zion needs most of all a host of the 



260 Eev. Dr. Balch. 

Lord's servants, upon whom has fallen the mantle of the 
prudent, self-denying, laborious, cheerful, judicious, wise, 
and now sainted White. John S. Grasty." 

[By the Rev. Thomas B. Balch, Greenwich, Va.~\ 

Reminiscences of Presbyterian Ministers 

By an Octogenarian. — No. 39. 



William S. White. 
"In June, 1839, the Octogenarian was riding in the direc- 
tion of Charlottesville, in the county of Albemarle. I called 
at a wayside inn, for the rest of an hour, and my hostess ap- 
peared anxious to find out a few particulars touching the 
traveller. There was nothing obtrusive or officious in her 

o 

manner. At length she remarked, 'Dr. White to-morrow 
has sacrament at Charlottesville, and in the evening you will 
probably meet an elder of his kirk coming home from the 
preparatory sermon.' 'Thank you,' I replied, 'for that piece 
of information, and I'll keep an eye on that elder.' 'So do,' 
she remarked, ' for your black velvet stock gave me an ink- 
ling that you were a minister.' 

" We rode on at an easy gait, and, rather late in the afternoon, 
we spied a gentleman, who met up with us in a few minutes. 
* Are you from Charlottesville ? ' I asked. ' Yes, ' he answered. 
'Are you acquainted with Dr. White?' 'Know him like a 
book,' he answered. *Are you a minister? if so, ride up to 
my house, spend the night, and in the morning I will intro- 
duce you to the Doctor, as worthy a man as you could wish 
to see.' So the head of my steed was turned, and the writer 
spent a most agreeable night with a Christian family. 

"The next morning was cool for a Virginia summer — a 
crudeness in the atmosphere ; and the writer put on a reddish- 
looking coat, which gave him rather a grotesque appearance. 
We reached the Albemarle town, and met Dr. White in one 
of the streets. He was on his way to see a sick member of 



Rev. Dr. Balch. 261 

his flock. 'Go on to the church,' he remarked, 'and take 
your place in the pulpit.' A large part of the congregation 
had assembled. In ascending the pulpit, the people gazed 
at the stranger as if he had been a pope wearing his triple 
mitre. 'Gaze on, good people,' thought the stranger; 'I am 
not the pope, nor Michael Angelo, who became, in 1542, the 
architect of St. Peter's, nor Raffaelle, whose pencil frescoed 
the apartments of that sumptuous mass of idolatry. This 
plain edifice suits me better than the cathedral of Canter- 
bury, or St. Paul's in London.' Dr. White entered the pul- 
pit; but just as he took his seat, a man came up the steps 
and whispered the question, ' Do you need help in putting 
that man out?' 'What man? Wouldn't you wish to hear 
him preach ?' So the janitor made a hasty retreat. The 
eclaircissement of this queer affair was that, on the Sabbath 
before, some half witted man, who resembled the writer, had 
crept into the pulpit. I should have been amused, had it 
happened anywhere but in a church. 

"My text was, 'Add to your faith virtue, charity,' etc. 
When the services were closed, a lady approached me, who 
proved to be a niece of ex-President Jefferson. She had re- 
sided at Monticello, the famous seat of her uncle, and I im- 
mediately saw that she was a lady of uncommon talents. 
'Are you a Virginian?' she enquired. 'A native,' I replied, 
'of Columbia District; but Virginia has adopted me, and 
has become my alma mater' 'It is pleasant,' she remarked, 
'to hear a sermon in these days of strife on the subject of 
charity.' Faith, hope, charity; the greatest of these is 
charity. 'Then,' I replied, 'my text ought to have read, 
"7o your charity add," etc., but it read, "To your faith add 
charity " as a product of faith, and then the product becomes 
greater in the deeds we perform for our race ; but " without 
faith we cannot please God.'" e But,' she rejoined, 'have we 
not disowned our New School brethren?' 'True/ I an- 
swered, 'but two cannot walk together except they be 



262 Rev. Dr. Balch. 

agreed. The church, is not the place for discussion of 
litigated points.' ' Then come,' she said, ' and take tea with 
us to-morrow evening.' My acceptance of the invitation 
terminated the interview- Dr. White told me that she was 
the only New School member of his church, and honest in 
all her convictions. 

"The next morning the writer walked out to Monticello. 
Its owner had died in 1826, and the place had been pur- 
chased by a Jewish family. The pastor at Charlottesville 
had given me a note of introduction to the sister of the pro- 
prietor, and in walking along we thought about Sir Walter 
Scott's Rebecca in Ivanhoe. She held Dr. White in great 
veneration, and occasionally attended his ministry. I paused 
awhile at the grave of Jefferson, and then advancing, was 
met by a young man accompanied by a couple of dogs. I 
do not hate dogs, but the sight of them; for they are no- 
thing more than half-civilized wolves. My note was handed 
to the young Jew. 'This note of Dr. White,' he remarked, 
'will entitle you to all the attentions we can bestow. He is 
beloved by Jews and Gentiles, and, like Ezra, he delves into 
the Old Testament, and then couples it with the New.' 'You 
cannot hold him,' I replied, 'in profounder reverence than 
your visitor.' He then conducted me through the garden, 
pointed out the distant views, and led me to the homestead 
of the statesman, showing its porches, rooms, mosaics, its 
foreign curiosities and domestic inventions. But of these 
things I have given an account in one of my twenty-four 
^Picturesque Narratives,' published in Stockton's Christian 
World. 

"I walked back to the town, and was introduced to Pro- 
fessor Harrison, a fine scholar and polished gentleman. 
Called on the consort of Professor Tucker, an old acquaint- 
ance. Went to hear her husband lecture on moral philos- 
ophy. . . . Took tea with the New School lady. She pre- 
sented me with a pair of ebonies, and fifty dollars to help 



Eev. Dr. Balch. 263 

bear their expenses to Liberia. They were sent accordingly 
with Governor Buchanan. Saw the Rev. Mr. Paxton, just 
returned from Palestine. Told me that the rose of Sharon 
was yellow, and that its hue was golden. Many believe that 
it was red. 

" I have seldom met with a minister that made a deeper 
impression on my memory than Dr. White. He removed to 
Lexington, in the Valley, where his labors in the ministry 
were very successful. He was dignified enough to command 
respect, and yet lowly enough to look for the dew of heaven 
on all that he attempted to advance in the cause of Christi- 
anity, either by oral instruction or by his pen; and now he 
sleeps in the fern of Shenandoah Valley, not far from the 
graves of Lee and Jackson, which are frequented by pilgrims 
from our own and distant lands." 



The Rev. Dr. J. A. Waddell, of Roxbury, Virginia, is the 
author of the following lines : 

LINES 
Suggested by the Happy Death of the Eev. Db. White. 
1 ' In the first hour of day's decline, 
When noon-day's shadows cross the line, 
We stood around him as he lay, 
And watched him till he passed away. 

" The tortured face, the anguished eye, 
That mark the time when others die, 
Seemed not death's purpose to betray; 
We knew not when he passed away. 

"No mortal tumult heaved his breast; 
No mortal pain impaired his rest ; 
But, like the noon's receding ray, 
His sainted spirit passed away. 

1 ' As summer clouds at eventide 
With unseen motion gently glide ; 
As stars grow dim at break of day, 
Then cease to shine, — he passed away. 



264 Memorials of Mrs. Dr. White. 

' ' The waves of time so slowly bore 
Their precious burden from the shore, 
Asleep in their embrace he lay, 
And, sweetly slumbering, passed away. 

{ ' Thus, on its noiseless wheels of flame, 
The chariot for the prophet came ; 
Affrighted death forsook its sway, 
And the immortal passed away. 

" 'Twas victory for him to die, 
• And mourners weep, they know not why ; 
Who would the conqueror's march delay, 
When saints to glory pass away ?" 



MEMOEIALS OF MKS. DE. WHITE. 



By the Session of the Church. 
" In Memoriam. 

" The following minute was adopted October 10, 1878, by 
the session of the Lexington Presbyterian Church, and 
ordered to be spread upon the record : 

"Died, October 3, 1878, aged seventy -five, at the residence 
of her son, Mr. Thomas S. White, Mrs. Jane I. White, 
widow of Wm. S. White, D. P., late pastor of this church. 

"Mrs. White's membership in the Lexington Presbyterian 
Church was historic, inasmuch as it was so intimately con- 
nected with the pastorate, long continued and specially 
blessed, of her husband, our pastor. 

"We remember with tender affection how faithfully she 
discharged her appropriate part of the direct duties of her 
position, and we are well persuaded that her indirect influ- 
ence was even more potential for good in lightening the 
labors of her husband, and in encouraging and cheering his 
heart, and thus strengthening his hands for the arduous 
work entrusted to him. 

"She has ceased from her labors, and entered upon her 



Mrs. Preston. 265 

everlasting reward, to be enjoyed with him to whom on 
earth she gave the love and the labor of her life. "When his 
crown is bright with the shining of many stars, some of its 
lustre will be reflected upon the less conspicuous crown of 
her who was his true fellow-laborer in winning souls to 
Christ. 

" This simple memorial of her departure from among us 
appropriately finds a place upon the record-book, in which 
has been inscribed so often the name of her husband as 
moderator of this session. 

"J. Fuller, Clerk of Session. 

"[For the Central Presbyterian,'] 
"By Mrs. Margaret J. Preston. 

"On Saturday, October 5th, was laid to rest in the Lex- 
ington cemetery all that was mortal of Jane Isabella, the 
venerated widow of the Kev. Dr. "Win. S. White. 

"Few deaths occur in this sorrowful world of ours that 
have not more or less of sadness mingled with them. Yet 
here we saw our friend, our neighbor ■, one with whom we 
had held the most gentle and pleasant intercourse through 
years of mingled joy and grief, one whose unobtrusive min- 
istrations had never been withheld in prosperity or adver- 
sity — such an one we saw laid under the sod almost without 
tears. There seemed, as we thought of what she had been 
and what she had done, no room for sorrow, no reasonable- 
ness in grief. Faithfully, conscientiously, unremittingly, 
as daughter and wife and mother, as neighbor and friend 
and mistress, as a comforter of the poor and a soother of the 
afflicted, as a pastor's best and truest helper, she had done 
her duty, with sweet quietness of mind, with calm serenity 
of manner, and with unselfish endurance. She had ordered, 
rarely well, all the ways of her household ; she had made 
her husband's home a very home of the heart; she had 



266 Mrs. Preston. 

gladdened and solaced and made smooth for him the entire 
pathway of his married life, taking upon herself its manifold 
domestic cares and burdens, that he might be free to give 
himself without hindrance or stint to the sacred work which 
he so long and so admirably performed, proving herself 
thereby a model ministers wife. She had had a life of sin- 
gular happiness with him, through youth and middle age, 
and together had they bowed over their one bitter experi- 
ence of anguish, t the death on the field of battle of their no- 
ble young son, Capt. Hugh A. White, a loss, nevertheless, 
that could be borne, seeing that she had such a comforter. 
She had watched with long and silent submission over the 
slow decline of this beloved husband, until her ministrations 
and her care were no longer needed. She had reared, with 
untiring Christian fidelity, a large family of children, five 
sons and two daughters ; she had seen them all honorably 
and happily settled in homes of their own; her maternal 
solicitude had culminated in the fulfilment for them of her 
highest wishes. She had lived beyond the promised three- 
score- and-ten, and these five years of borrowed time, spent 
in patient but saddened widowhood, more than satisfied her. 
She had no care to linger, if it was God's will that she should 
go. ' For I have nothing to do now,* she would sometimes 
say, half piteously, to the writer of this brief memorial; 
' nothing to do ; my work is over f as if life were not life 
without the working and the doing. 

"From the day she lost her husband the brightness 
seemed to fade out of life for her. The placid, cheerful, 
sympathetic face which always heretofore had a smile ready 
for us who knew her, lost henceforth that sunny tranquillity 
which had been so pleasant to look upon, convincing all w r ho 
saw it that there could be in this troublesome world abso- 
lute quietness of spirit and content of heart that asked and 
wished for nothing beyond what was in possession. But 
when the light of her eyes was taken away, the valley of the 



Mrs. Preston. 267 

shadow began to grow dim about her. When the strong 
prop was removed the steady heart began to falter. Thence- 
forth the sweet serenity deepened into something like settled 
sadness. She never became used to missing the stay of her 
life-time. 

"A second blow followed at no long distance. Her 
youngest daughter, with whom she had her home, was sud- 
denly snatched away in the hey-day of her young woman- 
hood; and while there was no arraignment of the kindness 
or wisdom of her heavenly Father, there was a certain be- 
wilderment of sorrow, from which the stricken heart could 
not react. 

"It was but reasonable and natural, then, that the tired 
hands that had never idled over their work should at last be 
folded over each other, and that she should softly and quietly 
receive the summons to the ' rest that remaineth.' It would 
have been unreasonable and unnatural if on that golden 
autumn morning her friends and neighbors had felt other 
than a solemn thanksgiving that the 'shock of corn, fully 
ripe,' had been gathered into the garner of the Lord. 

sc To few, with more truth, can the commendation of our 
Saviour bestowed upon Mary be applied than to Mrs. White. 
In all the relations of life, and in all its perplexing circum- 
stances, 'she hath done what she could.' No brilliant work 
that the world will praise, it may be ; but such unselfish ser- 
vice and such fully-performed duty as the eye of God will 
regard with approval as he pronounces his verdict upon it — 
<W 7 ell done, good and faithful.' M. J. P." 



CHAPTEE XVII. 

Letters of Condolence. 

From Eev. Dr. Wm. Brown ; Kev. Dr. Wm. S. Plumer ; Bev. Dr. 
B. M. Smith ; Rev. Dr. B. L. Dabney ; Mrs. Margaret J. 
Preston. 

THE following letters of condolence are so admirably writ- 
ten, and were so highly valued by our mother, that we 
think they will be read with comfort by all similarly be- 
reaved, and insert them for the benefit of all such into whose 
hands this volume may fall. 

[From Rev. Dr. Wm. Brown. ] 

* 

" Richmond, Va., Dec. 2, 1873. 

"Dear Mrs. White: A telegram in the Richmond Whig 
of yesterday (Monday) morning brought the first informa- 
tion that the mournful event had come to separate you from 
one who had so long and so truly been as part of your own 
life. In some respects there is nothing which can ever pre- 
pare us for this supreme moment, for we must always suf- 
fer under the stroke which cuts asunder ties as tender as 
our own heart-strings. 

" But in the midst of all this, I feel assured that you are 
enabled fully and constantly to recognize the great — I may 
say the uncommonly great — mercies connected with this dis- 
pensation. Your husband had filled up the full measure of 
years allotted by the Psalmist for manly life; he had filled 
it well — nobly, indeed — and in the noblest office and work 
known upon earth. He had been spared with you to see all 
your children educated and settled in life, and had given 

268 



Letters of Condolence. 269 

you great comfort in them. He had during most of his life 
been favored with comfortable health. A happy natural 
constitution, as well as divine grace and a kind providence, 
led his life peacefully along through enjoyments allotted to 
few, even among the best of his brethren. I know of no 
one who had more reason to say, as I am sure he often did, 
* He maketh me to lie down in green pastures ; he leadeth 
me beside the still waters.' 

"The life of your husband was every way regarded as 
one of great usefulness, and I do not think I have ever 
known a man more respected and loved, and deservedly so. 
To have had your own chosen place by his side through so 
long a period, and to have been universally recognized as 
fining it in a manner worthy of such a husband, such a min- 
ister of Christ, is a precious heritage to any wife in the day 
which clothes her in the garments of mourning. 

"I need not assure you how sincerely my own feelings are 
mingled with yours, both in your sorrow and in your com- 
fort under it. I have never known any one outside of my 
own father's house for whom I had a warmer affection than 
for my beloved brother now gone; and it will be cherished 
as one of the choicest memories of my life, that I had in re- 
turn such unmistakable evidence of a good place in his heart. 

"I feel persuaded that a review of the past, so full of 
1 goodness and mercy,' will constantly strengthen your faith 
that the Lord will cause them to ' follow you all the days of 
your life,' and that when they are ended you shall ' dwell in 
the house of the Lord forever.' The scenes of the present 
are fast vanishing away; 'the things that are seen are tem- 
poral.' 'The places that know us will soon know us no more.' 
To 'stand complete in all the will of God,' — to know it and 
do it, and be resigned to it ; that, my dear friend, concerns 
us more than all besides. If that is made sure, everything 
else is safely anchored by it; no tempest can ever trouble it. 

"But perhaps I have written too much. My desire is to 



270 Letters of Condolence. 

express my heartfelt sympathy with yon and with all your 
children and household. May the covenant blessing of our 
God rest upon them to the latest generations; and that 
you may have abiding with you daily the comfort of his 
love and the fellowship of his Spirit, is the prayer of 

"Yours, most sincerely, William Brown." 

[From Kev. Dr. Plumee.J 

"Columbia, S. C, Dec. 8, 1873. 

"My Dear Sister White: I have within an hour heard of 
the death of dear Dr. White. If you have lost a dear, good 
husband, I have lost a true and loving friend and brother — ■ 
a brother made for the day of adversity, as well as for the 
day of prosperity. I do not think there ever lived a more 
genial, frank, friendly or sincere man than Dr. White. His 
wonderful common sense made him one of the most effective 
men in every station. His candor kept him free from all 
those detestable littlenesses which mar so many characters 
otherwise good. I have loved him and communed sweetly 
with him since 1829, as I had opportunity. My last visit 
to him was very edifying and refreshing. He is now at rest. 
Glory be to God for all his mercies given to Dr. White and 
to others through him. I have often wept with him and 
often rejoiced with him. But he is at rest now, and you 
and I are left to fight a little longer. Oh, let us be strong. 
Let us honor God all the time. Let us remember that 
Jehovah is our strength. How can we sink with such a 
prop as our eternal God? If you have the poem, Yester- 
day, To-day and Forever, I ask you to read the first and 
second books of it. Get also Dr. Alexander's Letters to the 
Aged. 

"Give my love to all your children and grandchildren. 
Do all you can for the glory of God. Be cheerful. The Lord 
be with you. 

"Faithfully yours, Wm. S. Plumer." 



Letters of Condolence. 271 

[From Dr. B. M. Smith ] 

" Hampden-Sidney, Va., Dec. 7, 1873. 

" My Dear Mrs. White : You have come to know by ex- 
perience that sad lot which falls to so many. You are a 
widow ! The joys and hopes and pleasing cares of your past 
life are at an end. It is no sufficient alleviation of your 
present distress to remember that it was long before you as 
a dark cloud. No anticipation can accustom us so to con- 
template such a sorrow as yours as to deprive it of its sting 
when it may have come. My tenderest sympathies are with 
you. Somehow I have ever felt a peculiar tenderness to the 
widow. My precious mother was a widow during all that 
part of her life of which I was an observer ; and her widow- 
hood was one of prolonged and painful suffering. It is not 
surprising, then, that I feel for widows ; and yet I remem- 
ber that of all the classes of persons for which the Bible 
presents most special promises they are prominent. God is 
the ' God of the widow and the Father of the fatherless.' 
He has said, 'Let thy widows trust in me.' And he has 
made it an element of Christian character of the most pro- 
minent place to 'visit the widow and the fatherless.' Do 
not think, then, for a moment, that God is dealing with you 
in judgment, or that the deprivations to which 3-our new re- 
lations in life subject you have taken from you all relations 
to sources of comfort and blessing. God has changed your 
circumstances, but he has not changed himself. He is still 
a God 'who is near, and not far off.' He is still pitiful and 
tender. ' Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord 
pitieth them that fear him.' This is one of the most pre- 
cious of all the comforting promises which the Spirit has 
written for the afflicted. God is not only a Father who 
'chastens,' but a Father who "pities' while he 'chastens.' 

" And then, while he has given you a bitter cup, he has 
not made it all bitter. What unspeakably precious bless- 
ings has he left you! The memory of such a husband is 



272 Letters of Condolence. 

itself a legacy of ineffable value. I doubt not, you have al- 
ready received, and will continue to receive, from all parts 
of the country, and from far abler pens than mine, tributes 
to the eminent worth of your beloved husband. I have 
known him for nearly fifty } r ears. As boy and man, I have 
marked his career, and with profit. Few men, living or 
dead, ever laid me under greater obligations, as contributors 
to the formation of my own character. I owe him more than 
I can express. His mode of life, domestic and professional, was 
one of the examples which, though at a long distance be- 
hind, and with very unequal steps, I followed. "While in 
Nottoway, in Scottsville, Charlottesville and Lexington, I 
was ever taught by him ; and much of what little I have done, 
as I had opportunity, I owe to his example and his encour- 
agement. And then what a blessing in your dear children 
has God left you. I know they have, in some cases, been 
sources of affliction in their affliction ; but God has rewarded 
all Dr. White's care and yours in giving you children in 

whom you may well rejoice And you have, to cherish 

and comfort you in age, your youngest daughter. So let 
your heart trust. In sure confidence in your Saviour, faith- 
fulness to your new duties and new relations, you will find 
new comforts oftsetting the sorrow of these days. 
"May grace, mercy and peace ever be with you. 

"Yours truly, B. M. Smith." 

[From Kev. Dr. E. L. Dabney. ] 

"Seminary, December 13, 1873. 
"My Dear Mrs. White: You need not be assured that we 
have all watched with the tenderest interest such accounts 
as the papers brought us of the last sickness of your honored 
husband. When I learned that he had certainly gone to his 
rest, I felt that I had lost one of the wisest and truest friends 
I ever had. I take a pensive pleasure in running over the 
numerous instances of his hospitality and kindness to me, 



Letters of Condolence. 273 

and the many very nappy hours he has given me, since the 
beginning of our acquaintance, when I came to the Univer- 
sity of Virginia, an unfriended and poor young man. Few 
men have ever held such a place in my estimation, for every 
quality that ennobles a man and a Christian. 

"I do not write,- my dear madam, for the purpose of in- 
truding the common-places of consolation. These truths 
you know; and doubtless the Divine Comforter has already 
been ministering them to your heart, even from the first day 
that this bereavement began to cast its shadow upon you. I 
can only pray that you may experience the fullest supports 
of a Christian faith and hope ; and that your remaining pil- 
grimage may be made pleasant and comfortable by the 
tender affection of the children who owe you and their father 
so much. 

"Lavinia asks especially to join me in this prayer and in 
my hearty acknowledgments of the many Kindnesses we have 
both received from } r ou and your husband. Remember us 
also affectionately to Harriet and to Professor James White 
and their families. 

"Very faithfully yours, E. L. Dabney." 

[From Mrs. Maegaeet J. Preston.] 

"Monday, December 1. 
"My Dear Sorrowtno Friend: My heart is bowed down 
with you in your sore grief ! I do not know how to take in 
the thought that dear, dear Dr. White is gone from us for 
ever. It is better to think that I will never, never see him 
again. And if i~feel it so, how does your poor, smitten 
heart bear up under the heavy bereavement! How often he 
has comforted us in our many griefs ! how he has sympa- 
thized and prayed with us! and now it is only left us to 
mourn over him, not for him. Passed, as he has, into the 
splendor of the ineffable glory, we dare not weep for his 
going from us, hardly; our sorrow must all be for yo?t, dear 
18 



274: Letters of Condolence. 

friend, and his children who will so miss him, and for our- 
selves, his parishioners, to whom he was always so dear. 
God comfort you in your loneliness and desolation! The 
everlasting arms be underneath and around you ! If I only 
had seen him once more ! Just after I came home, I w r as on 
the street to pay him a visit, and was turned aside ; and last 
week, although twice I went to the house, I felt as if it would 
be an intrusion to ask to see him. JVbto, I so wish I had. My 
husband truly mourns for him; he had no deeper affection 
for any man than for his dear old pastor. But his own heart 
has been so bowed with grief that he has never paid a visit 
since Phebe's death. 

'•'Last night as I sat and thought of the dear Doctor, I 
was so impressed with the idea of his being ' a shock of corn 
fully ripe,' that I wrote the lines enclosed. 1 I send them, 
thinking they may have a little comfort in them. 

"Dear Mrs. White, I have felt that so many were going 

to see you, that it 'would, be kinder in us to stay away just 

now. In a few days, when you feel more like seeing me, I 

will come. My love to Harriet and true Christian sympathy. 

"Ever most affectionately, Margaret J. Preston." 

1 These ' ' lines " were appended to the memorial notice of Dr. White 

by the session of the church. See p. 239. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Estimates of His Chaeacteb by Liee-Long Friends : Db. R. L. Dab- 
ney, Db. T. W. Sydnoe, Db. Theodoeick Peyoe. 

THE following estimate of Dr. White was written by Dr. 
R. L. Dabney to Rev. Dr. J. W. Pratt, successor of Dr. 
White in the Lexington Church, when the latter had in 
mind to deliver a " Memorial Discourse " on the former, at 
the request of the session of the church. It was not written 
by the author to be printed just as it stands, but for sub- 
stance and in Dr. Pratt's own language : 

" January 24, 1874. 
" The Rev. John W. Pratt, D. D. 

" Rev. and Dear Brother : The first time I ever saw Brother 
White was, I think, in 1833, when I was a child. I went to 
the University of Virginia, December, 1839 ; Dr. White was 
then pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, a 
householder and principal of a large and laborious female 
school. Then commenced a life-long friendship. I went 
very frequently to Dr. White's church, and have to acknow- 
ledge his preaching as one of the chief means" for developing 
whatever Christian character I have. I soon became a wel- 
come visitor at his home, and an occasional witness of that 
charming domestic life of which it was the scene. 

"During the session of 1840-41 Dr. White was appointed 
chaplain to the University. He conducted a Bible-class and 
preached in the forenoon in the University. He preached 
to his own pastoral charge in the afternoon or night. He 
gave an evening lecture in the University (in some profes- 
sor's house) Wednesday night. He taught a seminary of 

275 



276 Estimate of Character. 

some forty girls through the week, and did his pastoral 
visiting at night. His preaching was greatly admired by 
the professors, and he was an excellent chaplain. He had 
not been long chaplain when the murder of Professor Davis 
took place. Dr. White appeared to unusual advantage 
amidst all these agitating scenes: tender, sympathetic, but 
wise and composed. His funeral sermon, almost an im- 
promptu, was an exceedingly happy effort, and the effect 
could not have been surpassed by any one. It was alluded 
to in class-room by the professors as a true model of pa- 
thetic eloquence. 

" Such labors, of course, were too much for any man's 
health; Dr. "White's failed from some disease of the liver, 
accompanied with great sleeplessness. He lay at death's 
door; recuperated; got to the Hot baths, and always attri- 
buted his bodily salvation to that agency, together with a 
good rest there. I think this was about 1843. About the 
close of Dr. White's first chaplaincy, the change was made 
from one to two-year's term of service. As soon as the 
Presbyterian turn could come around, he was made chaplain 
again for two years. He did not attempt this time to bear 
up Atlas, but turned his own congregation over to licentiate 
(now Dr.) D. B. Ewing. I think it was the year after his 
second tour of duty (I was a divinity student then), that the 
great rebellion occurred which, for a time, emptied the Uni- 
versity. I was in Albemarle among my relatives just after, 
and I remember hearing leading gentlemen say, that ' the 
best thing they coulcl do to reduce the young men to order 
would be to commit the executive management to Dr. White, 
for he had more talent of command and sound discretion 
than the whole faculty.' 

"I, having settled at Tinkling Spring just before the be- 
ginning of the 'Skinner war,' in 1847, was a member to 
welcome Dr. White in 1848. We were co-presbyters for 
five years. He had then become an influential director 



Estimate of Character. 277 

of this Seminary. No man had a fuller sympathy than he 
"with the convictions of its noble and sagacious founder, 
Dr. John H. Eice. He saw clearly how vital it was to 
real progress in the South that we should always rear a 
home supply of ministers. It is to me an interesting cir- 
cumstance, that Dr. "White's zeal for the Seminary was the 
providential occasion of his settlement in Lexington. He 
was present at the very meeting (at the River Church, near 
the Eockbridge Baths) at which the ' Skinner war ' began, 
as ambassador from the Seminary Board to Lexington Pres- 
bytery, to gain their fuller cooperation. Lexington Presby- 
tery was then very Philadelphianish and Princetonish. My 
father-in-law, even while a director of Union, sent three 
Browns to Princeton. Dr. White made a very prudent and 
attractive speech. This was the means of directing the at- 
tention of the Lexington elders to him. The next fall Dr. 

S. R. Graham died. To his great chagrin Dr. was 

elected, and coquetted with the Board for a year. I was 
then — April, 1853 — elected by some sort of haphazard or 
blind groping. 

" You ask for my estimate of Dr. White : it is, in every 
point of view, very high. He was an admirable head of a 
family, firm, wise, generous, and tender. As a business 
man, he was sagacious and successful. He never meant to 
get riches ; had he desired them he would have succeeded, 
but he was too noble. As a companion, he was unrivalled: 
a genial humorist, with an exhaustless fund of incident, and 
a cheerfulness that rarely nagged. His courage was lion- 
like. He was fond of books and delighted in his study. 
Those who think otherwise did not know him. But his 
'meat was to do the will of his Father and finish his work.' 
Zeal for souls thrust him out; although it was a true self- 
denial to him, he always responded. He was right, for who 
can doubt that the multitudes of spiritual children he thus 
begot were more to the glory of God than any additional 



278 Estimate of Cbakacter. 

critical accuracy he might have gained by staying in his 
study ? His mind was not formed for critical niceties, and, 
I presume, was impatient of protracted research. He was a 
man of action. But I have heard from him many able, 
well-knit, devotional sermons, especially while chaplain. He 
wielded a very graceful pen. I rank his African Preacher 
among the English classics : the easy flow, perspicuity and 
unambitious grace are equal, in my view, to the best popu- 
lar writings of John Newton or James W. Alexander. His 
literary taste was very pure. 

"As a preacher, Dr. White had nearly every excellency. 
It was usual to say that he was 'not profound/ 'not schol- 
arly,' etc. He was too wise a 'master of assemblies' to affect 
the scholastic forms of discussion ; his genius taught him 
better what suited the popular mind. As a preacher he was 
eminently gifted in prayer. His sermons never failed in 
appropriate unction. His power of appropriate illustration 
never failed him. He dealt with ideas in the concrete, as 
do all great, popular leaders. His pathos was great, and he 
knew where to touch the heart-strings of the people. To 
my ear his elocution was very fine, flexible, expressive, sol- 
emn, manly, noble. The last sermon I ever heard from 
him was to a part of my charge here, at the last meeting of 
the trustees he ever attended, to an afternoon congregation 
in a little ' chapel of ease ' we keep down at the village. The 
morning had been occupied by one of our most admired 
pulpit orators, in an effort which was generally pronounced 
'brilliant.' After dinner, Dr. Smith took Dr. White down 
in his little carriage, and he preached an unpretending, 
practical sermon of thirty minutes. To my ear and heart, 
it carried more true eloquence than the other. 

" On the whole, Dr. White was a man of a large and noble 
build. It has very seldom been my privilege to know such 
a one, never to have the warm friendship — as I had his — of 
a nobler. His friendship and counsels I count as one of the 



Estimate of Charactek. 279 

great blessings of my life. None of his sons is exactly like 
him. Hugh was his darling ; the least like him in tempera- 
ment and idiosyncrasy, rare in nobleness, courage and deep 
piety. Mrs. White was an admirable help-meet for him. 

" I find that Dr. White's name stands on our matricula- 
tion list in 1825. His family can give you the framework of 
his history. I have heard him talk much of his early his- 
tory. He told me once, that his aspirations were due to a 
word from a kinsman who had emigrated to Florida and 
there become a distinguished public man. (This was the 
Hon. Thomas White, who represented Florida in Congress 
.) When Dr. White was a youth at home this kins- 
man visited his native neighborhood. He said to his young 
cousin, ' Don't vegetate here on the Chick-a-hominy ; resolve 
to be something.' These words, he said, enforced by the ex- 
ample of his kinsman's brilliant success, awakened aspira- 
tions which were never quenched, and which, chastened by 
grace, led to his holy and useful career. 

" He was in Hampden-Sidney College as a candidate the 
last terms of Dr. Moses Hoge's presidency, and remembered 
him well. He also knew and was assisted by Dr. J. H. Rice, 
then pastor of the First Church, Eichmond. Dr. White had 
to earn his education by teaching. One of his pleasant in- 
cidents was this : Being a very young aspirant for a school 
in Eichmond he had ventured to append to his card a refer- 
ence to Dr. Eice. He took the first opportunity afterwards 
to mention it to the Doctor and ascertain if it was agreeable. 
He had hitherto known him chiefly in his graver moods (which 
were very grave), and approached him with no little awe. 
Dr. Eice immediately put him at his ease, thus : ' Well, my 
young brother, you have taken me at the same disadvantage 
that old John — (mentioning a familiar old neighbor of Major 
James Morton at Willington)- — used to take of my father-in- 
law about his turnip-salad. Old John would come by the 
patch, cut a fine basketful, hide it in the fence corner, and 



280 Estimate of Character. 

then come to the house to ask for salad. You see, if my 
father-in-law demurred, on the ground that it was getting 
scarce, he would say: Well, Major, it's cut now; and its too 
late to jine it to the turnips again.' 

"You will see that my statements are not fit in form for 
citation ; the substance is at your service. 

"Fraternally yours, E. L. Dabney. 

"Post-script. — Perhaps it may be well for me to say more 
of the religious history of the University, and the change 
which was taking place in it at the time of Dr. White's chap- 
laincies. 

"Formed by Mr. Jefferson (a low-type, rational Socinian) 
as a State institution, it was at first of no religion nominally. 
This turned out, as it generally does, an ti- Christian practi- 
cally. There were no religious observances; many of the 
professors were skeptical; much Sabbath-breaking, drunk- 
enness and lechery among the students. After a few years 
they had an epidemic typhoid fever, like that which pre- 
vailed in 1855-'56. Many students died. As a sort of 
'sop to the Cerberus' of Christian opinion in the State, the 
Faculty invited Bishop Meade to preach a common funeral 
sermon in the great rotunda. The Faculty complained that 
the bishop denounced the pestilence as a visitation of God 
on them for the godlessness of the institution. The bishop 
denied using such strong language, and published the text 
of his sermon in proof. But they said that he had enlarged 
in the heat of delivery, and the severe things were ex- 
tempore. These facts I had from Professor Gessner Har- 
rison in person. The bishop's whipping, however, did them 
good. It was after this, I think, that the first movement 
was made for a chaplaincy, as a tribute to the religious 
sentiment of the State. If I am rightly informed, the first 

was , a brilliant man, but rather a pulpit charlatan, 

and a bad man in private character Dr. Sampson was 
there then as a student, and by his consistent, modest, 



Estimate o? Character. 281 

Christian firmness, did more than . Dr. Sampson 

-was one of the 'mainspokes' in the first Sunday-school and 
prayer-meeting. The chaplaincy was, and is, a ' voluntary ' 
movement, on the part of professors and students, who sup- 
port him by subscription; the Visitors never having given 
anything but a chapel and a piece of ground for a manse. 

"By the time of this movement John A. G. Davis had set- 
tled there as law-professor — an evangelical Episcopalian, and 
a truly holy man. He was of great value to the religious 
interests until his murder. He recognized the importance 
of such students as Sampson, and asked Dr. "White if Pres- 
byterian families would not send more such, expressing his 
opinion that the University would do well to give them their 
tuition gratis to get them. From about that time 'candi- 
dates' have been free. 

" Dr. McGuffey came about 1845, I think. I soon made 
his acquaintance. He said to me once, remarking on his 
being an utter stranger in Virginia, that he was very in- 
quisitive and anxious about what manner of man the Pres- 
byterian pastor in Charlottesville should be, because he knew 
that his comfort and success would depend very much on 
that. He added that he had found Dr. White just the man 
after his own heart, who had given him the noblest welcome, 
and always held up his hands wisely and staunchly. 

"Dr. McGuffey began with great discretion. His reputa- 
tion had been exclusively a Western one. It was, to a good 
degree, through the representations of Dr. Landon Rives, of 
Cincinnati, (where Dr. McGuffey had been teacher in Wood- 
ward College) to the Hon. William C. Eives, visitor, that Dr. 
McGuffey got the appointment. It was a surprise to the 
Virginia people. Dr. James L. Cabell was his chief com- 
petitor. Some said, ' Who is this Yankee ! " But he came 
on the scene very quietly and devoted himself the first ses- 
sion exclusively to establishing his prestige as an able teacher. 
(He was always devoted to his course of instruction.) This 



282 Estimate of Character. 

lie did triumphantly. He then began to launch out, canvass- 
ing for a better class of students, from Christian, and espe- 
cially from Presbyterian, families. He preached as he had op- 
portunity (being scrupulously punctual at every lecture, and 
his vacations were devoted, for a year or two, to canvassing 
tours really j seemingly to public addresses on education and 
kindred topics. Wherever he was invited, there he would 
go, speak, form the acquaintance of Christian parents, etc. 
He also began to exert a Christian influence in the University 
by Bible-class instruction, etc., but especially in his lectures 
on Moral Philosophy. 

"Dr. White used to tell, with his heartiest relish, a story 
about this 'new departure' of Br. McGuffey, which bears 

too hard on Professor to be repeated abroad. This 

latter, and it seems most of the Faculty, were alarmed at 

Dr. McGuffey's course. One evening met Dr. White, 

near the post-office in Charlottesville, and began to complain : 
'The University is a State institution. It must not be tar- 
nished with sectarianism. Dr. McGuffey is compromising 
us all by preaching, etc., etc. Dr. White, I wish you would 
advise your brother preacher to quit preaching altogether. 
He owes it to his colleagues. Why, sir, he was elected here 
as McGuffey, LL. D. Had we known he was a clergyman, 
he would never have been elected ! ' Meantime, Mr Valen- 
tine Southall had joined the group. (He was a lawyer, not 
a church-member, though his wife was; commonwealth's 
attorney, politician, etc. He was remarkable for a crow- 
black roach, dark skin, black, heavy eye-brows, gruff voice, 

and very positive air.) Mr. , relying on him as a 

secular man, appealed to him for support. { Mr. Southall, 
don't yoia think Dr. McGuffey ought to demit the pulpit % ' 
Dr. White used to repeat the answer with infinite glee. 
Knitting his bushy brow and working his raven's roach, as 
a horse does his mane when a fly bites, he replied, with the 
most intense dogmatism: 'No, sir; I think no such thing! 



Estimate of Character. 233 

I do not profess, like you, to be a Christian, but Virginia is 
a Christian community. I know the necessity of the influ- 
ences of this religion ; it is for want of them that your Uni- 
versity is in danger of going to the devil. Pity but a good 
many more of you were like Dr. McGuffey — good preachers ; 
then the sensible, prudent parents in Virginia would have 

more confidence in your institution.' Professor was 

so utterly taken aback that he turned pale and trembled 
with excitement, but added nothing. 

"Mow I always regarded Dr. White and Dr. McGuffey co- 
laborers in the work of changing the godless character of 
the University. Dr. White's two chaplaincies were of great 
value. His influence with the Faculty was always for good. 
He gave a new impulse, by his school and pastoral labors, 
to vital godliness in all that neighborhood and country, and 
this reacted. He prudently and quietly sought opportuni- 
ties to bring the students acquainted with leading ministers 
by getting them to his pulpit and to the University — for in- 
stance, Dr. Plumer to deliver a Bible society address at the 
commencement in 1841 at the anniversary of a Union Bible 
Society which he had mainly gotten up. Above all, Dr. 
White exerted a constant and genial influence on the pious 
students, whether chaplain or not. His study was always 
open to them. 

"I will recall another incident of his earlier ministry 
which had much to do in shaping his final course. About 
the time Dr. White was preaching in Scottsviile, a discus- 
sion was had in the Richmond Presbyterian paper (then Dr. 
Converse's) known as the 'Aliquis Discussion.' Several 
ministers wrote under this signature, of whom Dr. White 
was one. Their object was to argue the detriment to pas- 
toral character and activities of a secular occu j patioi%. Some 
went so far as to say that it was a breach of ordination vows, 
and that no minister ought to accept, and no Presbytery 



284 Estimate of Character. 

sanction, any call which laid the minister liable to such sec- 
ular labor in any event. They were replied to with a good 
deal of asperity, as by Dr. Stanton, pastor of the College 
Church at Hampden- Sidney. Dr. "White never went to 
extremes. Pretty soon his opponents said that he well illus- 
trated the impracticability of the ' Aliquis theory ' by im- 
mersing himself in a large school. Now, when the Lexing- 
ton call came in 1848, enabling him to devote himself 
exclusively to the ministry, he told me that a prominent 
reason for accepting was his yearning to get rid of secular 
employment. ' Yes, sir" said he, ' I have verified in my own 
experience the justice of the more moderate views of us 
"Aliquis''' men. Secular occupation is a bane to a pastor. 
It disperses his energies, secularizes his heart, and cripples 
his ministry.' 

"I will close with a story on the Cohees. Meeting Dr. 
White after he had been in Lexington a year, I asked him 
how he liked them. He remarked upon the habitual cau- 
tion, often over-caution, of the Scotch -Irish character; he 
found the Lexington session and people deficient in aggres- 
sive boldness for Christ ; the community was in name almost 
all Presbyterian ; all nominally on the side of order and 
righteousness; yet flagrant vice abounded. He said: C I 
just lay quiet for a couple of months until I could " take my 
bearings " well. Then I asked for a full meeting of session 
to consider the interests of Christ's cause in general. So 
they all assembled, and wished to know what the business 
was. I made them a talk, and I began about thus: "Well, 
brethren, you have a noble church here, etc. But I must 
say that, with all its excellences, your community is in one 
respect the queerest I ever lived in. God's people have the 
reins in their own hands, yet they let the devil do the driv- 
ing." * Didn't that wake up the elders % E. L. D." 



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